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Designer Rachel Allen’s home has all the things you’d expect to find in a cozy London townhouse: a wood-burning stove, pillows upholstered in 19th century fabric, walls painted in a punchy Farrow & Ball green. The unusual part? Her house isn’t on a tree-lined street—it’s sitting on the Regent’s Canal.
Nothing is quite as inspiring as a barge that feels like a proper home, which explains why authors Caitlin Flemming and Julie Goebel included Allen’s houseboat in their newest book, The Essentials: The Art of Interior Design (out October 7). In addition to breaking down the nuts and bolts of design (think: common curtain hanging styles and wood flooring alternatives), Flemming and Goebel offer a look inside nine lesson-packed spaces. In the excerpt ahead, they take us inside Allen’s retreat on the water.
Not long after moving to London from Wales, Rachel Allen decided to build a wide-beam barge for her home, not just for the romance of it all, but also as an alternative, affordable way to live in the city. Fast forward to today: she has lived on the barge, located on the Regent’s Canal in Islington, a northern district of the city, for more than ten years.
Rachel landed her first job in the city at Jamb London and quickly became enamored with design. Subsequently, she worked with Christie’s Rita Konig and finally with Robert Kime, where she was the showroom manager. All of this prepared her to ultimately establish her own design firm, with projects in the United Kingdom as well as in the United States. Her well-developed eye for design can be seen in the choices she has made for her home.
Rachel had the barge built in the north of England. By designing her own barge instead of purchasing an existing one, she was able to create exactly the style she wanted. Even though it was brand-new when she moved in, Rachel was able to add depth and patina to the space by selecting items with history, like the antique floors that came out of a former museum. She also selected a tin bathtub of a smaller-than-than-usual size (originally designed for bathing pets) to fit the footprint of the barge. But the addition that grounds the barge the most is probably the AGA stove. It not only feels cozy, but also makes the space look more like a traditional home.
As you walk down the path to the canal, you can see that Rachel’s barge is one of four homes moored right before the Islington Tunnel. Transporting goods using barges like these has a long history in the UK, before engines or motors were common. “The boats used to be pulled by horses walking alongside the canals, but in the tunnel, people would use their feet against the walls to push their way through,” says Rachel.
There is a certain stillness on the canal that makes you feel worlds away from the bustling city. As you step into the home, you feel an immediate warmth and comfort from the collected design of the space. The reclaimed floors, the paneled walls painted Arsenic by Farrow & Ball, and the eclectic mix of antique furnishings and colorful textiles make the space seem like it has always been there. The roof of the barge is home to a garden of potted plants and on the warmer days serves as an outdoor dining space. The intimacy and permanence within the barge tempt visitors to linger.
“I thought I’d only live on here a few years, but now I can’t imagine living anywhere else,” says Rachel. Living in such a small space, she needs to be mindful of not bringing too many belongings into the mix. Rachel has mastered this. Her home is not cluttered; instead it feels effortlessly layered, making for a peaceful, comfortable retreat from her busy life in London.
