Within 18 months, they had bought and restored a house. Six months later, they opened a Menorcan outpost of the antiques business that Dorian has been running in London since 2015. This one is different, because although his name is above the door, as Dorian explains, ‘we wanted this gallery to be a family adventure – a collaboration between me, Thomas and my sister Ysolde’.
Dorian and Thomas now spend at least one week a month in Mahón and three months during the summer. (Their main home is in Brixton and Dorian’s UK gallery is in Marylebone.) Ysolde now lives in Mahón full time. ‘It’s incredible to me that this has happened,’ says Dorian. ‘At no point had Thomas and I ever discussed having a second home, or buying somewhere abroad.’
The British occupation of Menorca during the 18th century left an indelible mark, not least in the Georgian architecture in Mahón’s old town. which is where Dorian and Thomas found this handsome terraced house. ‘It’s a bourgeois townhouse, but it has certain codes of grandeur,’ Dorian explains. Like most buildings on the island, it is constructed from marés, a local sandstone – the only type quarried on the island – which has a lovely texture and a warm ochre hue. ‘It’s also porous and prone to humidity. But that’s part of the charm,’ Dorian says dryly.
An entrance at street level leads directly up a wide, stone staircase to two floors for living. At the front of the first of these is a large sitting room with old (yet very modern-feeling) tiles on the floor, and trompe l’oeil panelling and marbleised walls-decorative flourishes probably added in the early 20th century. Removing suspended ceilings throughout revealed joists and beams that were then painted white, completely transforming the space. The sitting room is hard to pin down in terms of time or geography: a remix of 18th, 19th and 20th centuries; in a city, but with a slightly rustic feel. It is a bit British (the original sash windows are now restored), a bit French, a bit Spanish. The same could be said for Menorca, an island whose fortunes, not to mention overlords, have changed many times over the centuries.
Towards the back of the house on this level is the dining room and the kitchen, which leads out to one of two terraces (this one being the perfect spot for breakfast). ‘But the dining room is probably my favourite room and the one we use the most,’ says Dorian. They entertain a lot here: ‘Maybe twice a week, as opposed to twice a year in London.’ A rock-crystal chandelier hangs over a chunky table surrounded by oak and rush chairs. When laptops are stashed away, it is a wonderful place to eat with friends.
