Inside the London apartment of Fahad Hariri, owner and co–artistic director of Paris design firm Pinto.
Photo: Jacques Pépion
Three years ago, when Fahad Hariri acquired Pinto, the distinguished Paris-based interior design studio founded by the late Alberto Pinto, he says it was already like “a second home.” Hariri, a son of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri and a graduate of the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris, had worked closely with the firm to renovate four of his residences. “You share a certain intimacy with the decoration team that tailors an interior to fit perfectly with your personality, your lifestyle,” remarks Hariri, who took over Pinto after Alberto’s sister, Linda, decided to retire. Now serving as co–artistic director with Pietro Scaglione, Hariri says he aims to infuse the studio with “a bit of audacity and my own more contemporary and romantic sensibility.”
Fahad Hariri stands beneath the entry’s Robert Mapplethorpe mirrored star sculpture.
Photo: Jacques Pépion
Those qualities certainly infuse his London pied-à-terre, a vibrant and cozy bijou space located in an elegant 19th-century redbrick building in the heart of the city. Having bought the apartment in the early days of the pandemic, Hariri says it felt completely in sync with his desire for “more intimate rooms—less about show and more about creating a home that is easy to live in.”
Hariri commissioned Cédric Peltier to paint a tropical landscape on closet doors in the family room, which he furnished with a custom sofa, a Pierre Frey armchair, and a 19th-century bamboo occasional table; the lamp is made from a 19th-century Delft vessel, the accent pillows are all Pierre Frey fabrics, and the carpet, a Pinto design, is by Alfombras Peña.
Photo: Jacques Pépion
To minimize time and disruption, Hariri and the Pinto team mostly stuck to the apartment’s existing layout, while repurposing several rooms. They combined two bedrooms into a larger primary suite for Hariri, reconfigured another bedroom as an office-cum–dressing room, and designed a fourth to double as an inviting family room and a guest room, as needed.
When it came to the decor, Hariri drew inspiration from “the freedom, the daring, the fanciness, and a certain romanticism and poetry found in British culture,” as he puts it. Not least in the entry and entertaining spaces, where he covered the walls in a shade of green he calls vert anglais and paid homage to “the spirit of swinging London,” he says. Colefax and Fowler tartan upholstery and curtains in Morris & Co. fabric mingle with artworks by David Hockney, Lucian Freud, and Scottish painter Craigie Aitchison. “In all of my interiors, I like to match the atmosphere to the location of where I live,” he explains.
In one of the baths, a Hugo Lederer bronze sculpture of a nude fencer stands against a vivid red wall.
Photo: Jacques Pépion
Color plays a major role throughout the apartment. Baths and powder rooms are swathed in daring hues like egg-yolk yellow, fire-engine red, and Indian pink, while the primary bedroom achieves its tranquil, sanctuary-like feel in part from its tones of soft rose gold. (“It’s where I spend most of my time,” confesses Hariri.) In the family room, where the walls are painted in wide horizontal bands of fuchsia and tangerine, artist Cédric Peltier conjured lively tropical scenery on the closet doors.
Pattern, too, adds jolts of character, from the striking abstract designs of the custom floor coverings in the main salon and family room to the dressing room’s exuberant paisley wallpaper. Animal prints make a big impression, especially the vivid tiger stripes hand-painted on the parquet floor that extends from the front hallway through the dining room and galley kitchen.
A Pinto Collections three-part ceiling light fixture hangs in the entrance hall, where a 19th-century Meissen porcelain monkey perches atop a Yamaha piano that is paired with an Ashanti stool. French and Italian Old Master drawings are displayed alongside a Craigie Aitchison portrait above a circa-1940 French cabinet, and the parquet floor was custom painted in a tiger pattern by Atelier Premiere.
Photo: Jacques Pépion
“I like that anywhere I am looking I can see beautiful things that move me”
Fahad Hariri
“Bespoke elements bring personality and uniqueness,” says Hariri, who commissioned a number of custom furnishings—sofas, tables, bookshelves—to perfectly fit the proportions of the space. In his bedroom, he had the floor-to-ceiling upholstered headboard embellished with Joan Miró–inspired drawings executed by the Pinto team using textile felt-tip pens.
Distinctive vintage pieces round out the sophisticated, eclectic vibe. In the main salon, where tubular metal Maison Charles floor lamps from the ’70s stand next to a sculptural Guy de Rougemont side table in one corner, Hariri installed Jansen chauffeuses and campaign-style stools that can be moved around to accommodate glasses and plates or provide additional seating. “I wanted the apartment to be as comfortable and welcoming when I am alone as when receiving from time to time 20 friends for a cocktail party,” he says.
Hariri’s bed features a custom-upholstered headboard with Joan Miró– inspired drawings and linens by Maison Duchénoy; the small painting is by Celia Hempton.
Photo: Jacques Pépion
There is charm in the mélange of moods emanating from Hariri’s soigné yet playful mix. A Robert Mapplethorpe star-shaped mirrored sculpture is a graceful contrast to a late 19th-century bamboo bench in the entry. A vintage monkey chandelier makes a delightful pairing alongside an exquisitely lacquered screen inlaid with Art Deco motifs in the dining room. Hariri’s dressing room shelves, lined with designer sneakers and sporty sunglasses, are offset unexpectedly by a classic midcentury Jean Royère desk and chair.
Open shelves display sneakers and sunglasses in Hariri’s dressing room, which is also outfitted with a Jean Royère desk and chair; paisley wallpaper by Zoffany amps up the pattern play.
Photo: Jacques Pépion
“It creates surprise and allows for a dialogue between the different elements to tell a story,” Hariri says. “I like that anywhere I am looking I can see beautiful things that move me: It can be the detail of a fabric or an embroidery, a beautiful color that vibrates in the sunlight, the shadow play of texture in a painting, or the gathering of two objects together.”
One of Hariri’s goals is to introduce younger clients to “the art of living,” Pinto style, which he defines as “generous, welcoming, comfortable but with an intricate attention to detail.” Not a bad description, after all, of his own London home.
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2023 Spring Issue under the headline “Local Color.” Subscribe to the magazine.
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A Chic London Pied-à-Terre for Pinto’s Owner and Co-Artistic Director Takes Cues from British Culture
Striking green walls make an eye-catching backdrop for eclectic art in the London apartment of Fahad Hariri, owner and co–artistic director of Paris design firm Pinto. A portrait by Henry Taylor is mounted above the main salon’s fireplace. Pairs of vintage leopard-print chauffeuses and upholstered folding stools, all by Jansen, join matching custom sofas made using a Colefax and Fowler tartan. The curtains are a Morris & Co. fabric, and the Pinto-designed rug was made by Alfombras Peña.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
A Craigie Aitchison canvas commands attention in the London pied-à-terre of Fahad Hariri, design firm Pinto’s owner and co–artistic director.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
Gracing Hariri’s entry hall is a large canvas by Italian-born, Paris-based artist Giovanni Leonardo Bassan, who also created this poignant 2019 artwork, G.A.F. “What moves me is the way he expresses his own tensions and emotions through different techniques and media,” says Hariri.
Photograph by Courtesy of the artist
A Pinto Collections three-part ceiling light fixture hangs in the entrance hall, where a 19th-century Meissen porcelain monkey perches atop a Yamaha piano that is paired with an Ashanti stool. French and Italian Old Master drawings are displayed alongside a Craigie Aitchison portrait above a circa-1940 French cabinet, and the parquet floor was custom painted in a tiger pattern by Atelier Premiere.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
Fahad Hariri stands beneath the entry’s Robert Mapplethorpe mirrored star sculpture.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
Hariri commissioned Cédric Peltier to paint a tropical landscape on closet doors in the family room, which he furnished with a custom sofa, a Pierre Frey armchair, and a 19th-century bamboo occasional table; the lamp is made from a 19th-century Delft vessel, the accent pillows are all Pierre Frey fabrics, and the carpet, a Pinto design, is by Alfombras Peña.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
“I wanted to evoke the passion for travel that was very present in 19th-century English society and arts,” says Hariri, who commissioned the mural painted on closet doors in the family room. “When I discovered the universe of Cédric Peltier, it was like an ‘invitation au voyage.’ ” The artist’s bespoke installations and murals, such as this jungle scene at Manufactures Emblem in Paris, never fail to inspire wanderlust.
Photograph by Skills production
Vintage Japanese erotic photographs overlook the main salon’s custom daybed in a Pierre Frey fabric; the Maison Charles floor lamps, one in stainless steel and one in brass, are from around 1970, while a Guy de Rougemont side table tucks under a Pinto-designed table crafted by Arte Fabrica.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
The tiger-print parquet brings some panache to the kitchen.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
Art Deco–inspired lacquer panels animate the dining room, where Hariri installed a vintage monkey chandelier above a marble-and-bronze table designed by Pinto and made by Arte Fabrica. The Xavier Dohr chairs are covered in a tropical print by Carlucci, and Marcel Derny made the bronze bird centerpiece.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
Open shelves display sneakers and sunglasses in Hariri’s dressing room, which is also outfitted with a Jean Royère desk and chair; paisley wallpaper by Zoffany amps up the pattern play.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
A portrait of Lucian Freud by John Craxton hangs above a Piero Fornasetti chair in a hallway outside Hariri’s bedroom.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
In one of the baths, a Hugo Lederer bronze sculpture of a nude fencer stands against a vivid red wall.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
Hariri’s bed features a custom-upholstered headboard with Joan Miró– inspired drawings and linens by Maison Duchénoy; the small painting is by Celia Hempton.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
Celia Hempton creates small-scale canvases that revel in anonymous intimacy, such as this portrait Hamza, Iraq, 10th May 2017. “I love the unapologetic modern romanticism in her work,” says Hariri, whose bedroom is punctuated by a striking green painting by the London artist.
Photograph by Courtesy of the artist and Phillida Reid, London
In the family room, the idea was to create “a joyful, dynamic space playing on color and material contrasts,” explains Fahad Hariri, owner and co–artistic director of design firm Pinto. “A sensual and provocative touch is brought in with the bicolor walls painted in shocking rose and mandarin orange by Atelier Premiere,” he says, “plus the fun and daring collection of framed pages from the auction catalog for the 2010 Sex sale at Phillips.”
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
A tribute to the firm’s eponymous founder, A Portrait of Alberto Pinto (from “Pictures of Diamonds”), by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz watches over the 17th-century staircase at Hôtel de la Victoire, Pinto’s Paris headquarters.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
To reflect the unabashedly English atmosphere of the main salon, Hariri says, he looked largely to British artists—among them Keith Vaughan, Austin Osman Spare, and Peter Lanyon. The exception is a statement-making cobalt work by Argentinean Italian painter Lucio Fontana.
Photograph by Jacques Pépion
“I have a special attachment to my Glyn Warren Philpot painting in the dining room,” says Hariri, referencing the early 20th-century British painter known for his evocative portraits. “I have another of his pieces in Paris, and it creates a link between the two cities, especially since he was a London painter who moved to Paris in the early 1930s to embrace modernism.”
