Having trained as a furniture designer, Jonathan Legge set up Makers & Brothers with his brother, Mark, in 2011. The website has become an international destination for contemporary design and craft, selling objects that Jonathan describes as being "useful, beautiful and sometimes nicely odd". Five years ago, Jonathan and Mark renovated the dilapidated former service wing of their family home in Blackrock, and earlier this year, Jonathan and his wife, Ciara, who left her career in fashion to work with the team, moved in and made it their home.
Describe your style
I don’t think I’d say there is a style as such, it’s more an approach. It’s about the hand, the head, the heart and making the best of what’s there. When we were working on the house, we wanted to have as light a touch as possible and keep as much integrity as we could. So rather than sand the wooden floors, we scrubbed them with wire wool. We didn’t repaint the walls unless we had to, and we didn’t replaster so much as delicately repair, so there’s a lot of texture. We wanted to respect the bones of the house, but also make it habitable for the 21st century, and relevant to how we want to live. It’s an ancient space but it feels fresh. A lot of our furniture is designed by friends, or swapped in with friends, or maybe I’ve designed it, or it came from our parents, so there are many layers.
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Which is the room in your home you most enjoy?
At the moment it’s the back yard. It gets the sun all day, and it’s enclosed by the old walls of the shed. Half overgrown with buddleia, sweet peas and grasses, it’s a special space. Inside, it depends on the seasons. The ceilings are low downstairs, and the windows are set low too, so in the winter the kitchen/dining space is amazing. There’s a big fire, and you can just hang out. In the summer, the livingroom upstairs is wonderful because it gets fantastic light. I think I’m happy in any room with a window and a fire.
What items do you love most?
We've got a beautiful big paper shade over the dining table, a Hotaru Bouy by Barber & Osgerby, which is where I had my first internship after I left college. I designed the table myself. Then there's a beautiful side table by Max Lamb, it's a block of Connemara marble, cut from the quarry wall. The top side is polished. It weighs a ton, you have no idea – it was meant to be a bedside table, but it was so heavy it didn't get beyond the hall. Then there's a bench in the bedroom that I worked on at Studio Ilse Crawford – it was the studio's first foray into furniture and we prototyped all the product in my old workshop in London. It's fun to have that. Who is your favourite designer? Do you own any of their work? Obviously I love all the designers we work with, but I don't think I have just one favourite. I have lovely glassware from Jasper Morrison, as well as a bottle opener and a chair. I have some of Castiglione's small pieces – another bottle opener (!) and a light. Ilse Crawford of course, and Max Lamb, both of whose work we have at Makers & Brothers.
The artists you admire?
Pat Scott – I love the whole breadth of his work, from textiles to screen prints, everything he was doing, his approach was so fresh and yet grounded. Richard Long and James Turrell, both land artists. Then there's Alma Allen, who works in Joshua Tree California, I came across his work two years ago in New York – he makes beautiful cast bronze and carved wood sculptures. I recently discovered Pat Harris and like the atmosphere of his work a lot.
Biggest interior turn off?
Probably talking about interiors! But seriously, I dislike when they’re discussed in an abstract stylistic manner. For example, when people describe something as Minimalist, but they haven’t really thought beyond that, to what’s at the heart of it. I also dislike an interior without any integrity or intention, something that has been designed to be photographed, instead of to be lived in. I think it’s important to let interiors evolve, rather than have a designer do it and expect to walk in and consider it finished; a room, a home is never finished.
Travel destination that stands out?
Praiano on the Amalfi coast in Italy. It's next to Positano, but quieter and maybe a little more rugged. And Puglia at the bottom of Italy, we went there on our honeymoon, to Marittima di Diso. There's an old convent there, that is run by Athena McAlpine. It has an amazing art collection, a beautiful kitchen and a fabulous library. So you go, swim in a pool surrounded by cacti and read books. Perfect.
If you had €100,000 to spend on anything for the home what would you buy?
A Paul Evans sideboard, they're pretty crazy and amazing. He was a furniture designer in the US who worked primarily in metal. That would probably take the whole €100,000. Or maybe a sofa by Josef Frank, It would have to be something very special but suitable for daily use.
Find Makers & Brothers at makersandbrothers.com
