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podcast | Feb 3, 2025 |
From royal projects to quirky retail, Ben Pentreath does it all

When the multitalented English designer Ben Pentreath was in his teens, his career advisor sat him down and told him it was a terrible idea to go into architecture. “He said, ‘You need to have a much more physics-based and maths-based background if that’s going to be successful,’” Pentreath tells Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Business of Home Podcast. “In the benefit of hindsight, that’s why God created engineering. Someone else can make things stand up.”

Thankfully, Pentreath didn’t take no for an answer. Finding inspiration in the then–Prince of Wales’s architecture book, A Vision of Britain, he eventually attended the royal’s Institute of Architecture (now called The King’s Foundation). There, he began work on Poundbury, a planned community inspired by an old English settlement. Over the past 30 years, Pentreath’s career has taken many twists and turns—his firm of 40 he founded in 2004 now designs everything from private homes to housing projects, not to mention a quirky retail shop he runs on the side—but the spirit of looking back to look forward, embodied in Poundbury, remains a constant.

He is inspired by the approach of 18th-century British architects like William Kent and Robert Adam, who, in a tradition that continued well into the 1800s, embraced a generalist approach, designing everything from furniture to buildings to cities. While many designers today find themselves in very specialized businesses, focusing on fields like hospitality or health care, Pentreath refuses to box himself in. “I’m not worried about spreading myself too thin,” he says. “Some people come to me with a certain idea: They think I’m an interior designer and have absolutely no idea that I’ve designed a building in my life. There’s something quite nice about not having all of your eggs in a single basket.”

Elsewhere, Pentreath discusses the personal tragedy that prompted him to develop a succession plan, why American designers can never quite nail English style, and what inspired his recently published book, An English Vision.

Crucial insight: Despite the size of his firm and the scope of his work, Pentreath still takes every email inquiry seriously. “You never quite know where a first little nascent email into the studio is going to lead, and I learned really early on that sometimes the things which seem to be not necessarily very promising on first hint actually turn out to be some of the most wonderful projects that you’ve ever worked on.”

Key quote: “It’s a strange thing to put your finger on, but a real, authentic English interior is fundamentally slightly undesigned. If you can think about an American client giving an American architect and an American decorator a brief to design an ‘English-style house,’ we sort of all inherently know at a fundamental level that when that project is delivered, it will not feel in any way, shape or form English. It probably doesn’t smell, right? It probably works too well. There’s a degree to which, particularly with regard to the interior decoration, it might feel overdesigned or too comprehensively designed.”

This episode is sponsored by Ernesta and Hickory Chair. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The Thursday Show

Business of Home executive editor Fred Nicolaus and host Dennis Scully discuss the biggest news in the industry, including some positive developments in global shipping, an update on the Charles Cohen drama, and a defense of neutral colors. Later, BOH editor in chief Kaitlin Petersen joins live from Las Vegas Market to share highlights from the show.

This episode is sponsored by Kohler and Loloi. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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