Tucked between two taller buildings in the residential area of Jaipur known as Civil Lines, the house belonging to the French/Tunisian artist and designer Thierry Journo is clearly a retreat from the buzzy streets of Rajasthan’s capital. You could go so far as to call it an oasis – a cliché that in this case is accurate: palms and ferns flourish in the shared garden of the two narrow houses dating from the 1940s that a previous owner joined by building a roof between them. ‘As soon as I was shown it, I fell in love with it,’ he says of the house he first set eyes on 20 years ago. The idea that it was two separate structures with a garden between them gave it an ‘extra element of charm’, and seeing its potential, he decided to make it his own.
The process started in the garden. He kept its shape, removing some of the bigger plants that overshadowed the house’s façade and darkened its rooms, added flower beds, 1950s metal furniture and jardinières and planted jasmine and bougainvillea, which grow beautifully in the city’s semi-arid climate. As for the house itself, the décor was rather dark and sad: faded textiles, basic brown wooden furniture, old fittings. But it had good bones. ‘The house needed to be awakened again, and I knew I could do it,’ he says.
Moving from a flat to a home with two floors gave the designer a creative boost. ‘I could make something more private, more intimate – all in my own style,’ he says. Journo, who is Parisian, drew on multiple threads of inspiration for the interiors: 16th-century Venetian fashion and 17th-century French and 18th-century Indian decorative styles; Japanese lacquerware; Classical and Etruscan motifs and Rococo singerie and chinoiserie among them. Framed by Jaipur’s own Art Deco architecture, the result is distinctive.
Journo decided on a base colour of off-white and beige punctuated with black – the backdrop to a scheme that overflows with pastels and brights. The main drawing room is decorated by murals depicting a fantasy palmeraie enriched by hanging striped Venetian-inspired lanterns. Red coral-shaped brackets support shelves for vases, while Neoclassical engravings adorn the walls. A couple of armchairs, a sofa and a chaise longue are upholstered with his own designs and contribute to the indoor/outdoor feel of the space. A hand-painted screen provides a sun shield in the afternoon – the hours that the occupant dedicates to reading. ‘Everything in the house is designed by me and made by local craftsmen,’ he explains. ‘Craftsmanship reigns supreme in Jaipur, from excellent embroiderers to refined cabinet makers, gilders, carpet weavers, iron workers.’
An imposing inlaid-marble table – made locally – and red lacquered chairs brighten up the dining room at the rear of the house, the darkest space in the building. On the large shelf above the table, antique marble urns and pewter vessels bestow a certain stateliness on the room. The wall alongside the staircase – an original feature of one of the two houses – is adorned by a mix of kitsch Indian and tantric pictures, a few drawings by Jean-Philippe Delhomme, scenes of Jaipur and a number of plastic Hindu deity figurines found at nearby street markets. The principal bedroom upstairs has pale pink walls, with two windows above the bed – survivors of the original architecture. Cushions and pillows are covered with prints produced by Journo himself; some are embellished with embroidery. The designer’s collection of Wedgwood vessels – together with other ornaments – are stored in display cabinets decorated by hand.
‘I like collecting – from small antique busts and fragments to Greek and Indian vases,’ he says. ‘I have a huge number of vases, in all shapes and materials, old and new, and some I like to paint myself,’ he adds. ‘Things evolve and move in the house all the time. Objects and prints can change everything when placed in different spots. You always have to listen to the little music of objects…’
When the designer moved to Jaipur in 2002, at the invitation of his good friend the jewellery designer Marie-Hélène de Taillac, the pair set up Hot Pink, the first concept store in India. There they showcased work by a carefully researched selection of Indian designers, alongside some of Thierry Journo’s own creations. ‘Jaipur was totally different then: I remember it being the city of cows, Ambassador cars and Vespas!’ He smiles. ‘I found Jaipur all very exciting and energising then, as it is now. How can you not absorb the beauty of the city’s forts, its architecture, gardens and palaces, its craftsmen, its history…? They stay with you forever.’ The Pink City has also influenced his own palette. ‘The magic light of this city makes the colours pop in a marvellous symphony,’ he says. ‘It is a paradise for creative people.’
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