Basil Ionides (20 June 1884 – 23 September 1950) was a British architect who published two best-selling books, ''Colour and Interior Decoration'' (1926) and ''Colour in Everyday Rooms'' (1934). He is best known for his 1929 interior design of the rebuilt

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pal ...

in London.

Biography

Ionides was born in Scotland, the fourth son of Luke Ionides and grandson of

Alexander Constantine Ionides Alexander Constantine Ionides ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Ιωνίδης), also known as Konstantinos Ioannou or Iplixis (; 1 September 1810 – 10 November 1890) was a British art patron and collector, of Greek ancestry. Life Alexander Cons ...

, art patron and collector. The Ionides were one a wealthy trading families originally from

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is ...

, part of the wider Anglo-Greek community. He studied at Tonbridge School and

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and ...

1900–1903. While there, he wrote architecture articles. He served his apprenticeship with Alexander Nisbet Paterson, during which he designed his first building, the double villa in Winton Drive, when he was only 18. Upon the completion of his apprenticeship in 1904 or 1905, he moved to London and joined the office first of Leonard Stokes and then of

Harold Ainsworth Peto Harold Ainsworth Peto FRIBA (11 July 1854 – 16 April 1933) was a British architect, landscape architect and garden designer, who worked in Britain and in Provence, France. Among his best-known gardens are Iford Manor, Wiltshire; Buscot Pa ...

.Profile of Basil Ionides at the ''Dictionary of Scottish Architects'' (2006).
Retrieved on 19 June 2008. Ionides entered independent practice in 1908 and designed a number of English houses. During the First World War, he served in the Naval Reserve and was commissioned. He relinquished the commission, however, preferring to serve as an ordinary seaman, as he did not like giving orders to more experienced men. He was injured in 1917 and returned to private practice, particularly performing interior work. Ionides married the Honourable Nellie Samuel, the widow of Walter Henry Levy, daughter of the 1st Viscount Bearsted, in 1930 after meeting her while he was decorating her residence in Berkeley Square. She was an expert in Oriental porcelain and collected art works, many of which were donated to the Municipal Borough of Twickenham, later to become the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

. The Ionides acquired Buxted Park in Buxted, Sussex in 1931. With a combination of Basil's discerning eye and Nellie's fortune as the

Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

heiress, they restored the Park and became important art collectors. But fire destroyed much of the house in 1940, and the top storey was lost entirely, with much of their collection. Ionides scavenged architectural pieces from bombed-out buildings around the country with which to rebuild his stately home (now the Buxted Park Hotel). He served as High Sheriff of Sussex for 1944. Ionides was an important

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

designer. He was best known as the architect (with Frank A. Tugwell) for the rebuilding of the

in London in 1929 and for Claridge's Restaurant. For the Savoy Hotel's restaurant, he famously sculpted Kaspar, the Black Cat, who acts as a good-luck guest at tables if thirteen would otherwise be present. He published the important books ''Colour and Interior Decoration'' in 1926 and ''Colour in Everyday Rooms'' in 1934. He also designed the interior of the ticket hall at Hounslow West tube station. Ionides was admitted to the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

(RIBA) in 1931 and was elevated to Fellow in 1938. Ionides died in Brighton at the age of 66 and is buried in St Margaret's Church in Buxted Park.

References

External links

Site includes photo of Ionides' 1929 interior of the Savoy Theatre (bottom image)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ionides, Basil 1884 births 1950 deaths 20th-century art collectors 20th-century British architects 20th-century British non-fiction writers Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art British art collectors British interior designers British people of Greek descent Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects High Sheriffs of Sussex People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan People educated at Tonbridge School Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I 20th-century Scottish architects 19th-century Scottish writers People from Buxted

Biography

References

Further reading

External links