Founded in 1981 by husband and wife team, Robert and Georgina, Hamilton Weston Wallpapers specializes in the faithful reproduction of historic wallpapers as well as representing exciting design talent with a more contemporary feel.
Collected over many years this rich archive provides the basis of a collection used by many of Britain's historic palaces, museums and treasured houses. Film companies find these wallpapers accurately reflect originals used in properties dating as far back as 1690. Since these early beginnings the collections have grown, appealing to interior designers from across the globe with their distinctive British heritage.
Hamilton Weston Wallpapers now work with a number of talented designers to translate their work into stunning wallpaper designs. They include Flora Roberts a distinguished botanical artist and Alice Pattullo the renowned illustrator whose work appears in many interior design magazines. Adam Bray, himself a distinguished interior designer, has worked with the company to design a unique brown paper stripe paper. Our team got the chance to chat with the team at HW and asked then TEN questions from what influences their colors and the movies their wallpaper has been featured in - let's take a look.
What is behind the name Hamilton Weston?
In 1981, Hamilton Weston was founded by Interior Designer, Georgina Hamilton and Architectural Historian Robert Weston.
We know Hamilton Weston recently attended The Nashville Design Social, give as a few words to describe how that was.
We were very happy to support our partner, Fritz Porter, who recommended the Design Social event and were very pleased to have attended. Meeting so many talented Interior Designers from Tennessee and beyond was a real privilege and I am sure we made many new friends there.
You have replaced the original found papers in the Jane Austin home - how did this come about?
And is this the room that Jane dreamt up our beloved Mr. Darcy?
We were approached by the Jane Austen House Museum, and Robert was able to discover and restore the original wallpapers present in the house when Jane resided there.
Jane Austen’s family moved to Chawton Village in July 1809. She hand wrote her 6 novels in the Dining Room, the wallpaper in that room with its narrow border was an exciting and fairly recent discovery. Our conservator found a large piece of the original printing enabling us to accurately recreate the hand printed leaf design in its original vibrant green colourway together with its border.
The Ribbon (Apprentice) Trellis wallpaper decorated Jane Austen’s bedroom and original pieces of this wallpaper can still be seen in the room’s window shutter boxes. We were able to faithfully recreate the original design for this room too. The Austen family was quite poor when moving to Chawton
and Jane’s chosen bedroom wallpaper design was somehow incorrectly printed and therefore less expensive. Wallpaper was a costly item and heavily taxed in this period.
What is the most interesting project you worked on?
We are very lucky to have been involved in many wonderful projects, including films and historical dramas (Bridgerton, The Gilded Age, and many more), The Jane Austen House Museum, the Uppark House restoration project as well as a recent wallpaper restoration project at Kensington Palace. We are always working on beautiful homes with the very best International Interior Designers
How do you view the US market for your wallpapers? What would you like designers using Hamilton Weston to know?
We have active in the US market for many decades now, and it is our strongest market outside of the UK. Our designs and colours have a strong synergy in the USA and we have many more stories to tell and friends to make in the market there. We are very strongly focused on developing wallpapers suitable for the US market and promoting ourselves with The Design Social in the future.
Do you have a favorite pattern, and why?
Too many to list! We especially love the Flora Roberts Designs, which all originate from her beautiful hand drawings. The Jane Austen collection, and the new colours of Chawton Vine which are about to be launched. We have many historical and archive designs with a rich and wonderful history, such as Fuchsia St James (c.1835). Which was discovered in a house which was built in 1685 in London’s central St James area, among some 20 or so more wallpaper fragments rescued from a block of plaster work discarded among builders rubble. Before his death in 1849, Chopin spent several months in the house during his last visit in 1848! We wonder if he enjoyed the wallpaper design?
What influences the color you choose for your papers?
On many occasions we find that the original document colour (original colour) of HWW papers are the best sellers. For example , Uppark Tapestry, which received a fantastic response at Design Social , Nashville, with colours originating from c.1863. Many of our colours are also influenced by suggestions from Interior Designers and our worldwide partners. Becky is especially good at this!
What is like working with the talented Flora Roberts and your other amazing collaborations?
We are very privileged to work with Flora, who is an amazing talent and really wonderful to work with. Her designs have been an instant hit, and the new collection and designs that we are currently working on are simply stunning.
Where have we seen Hamilton Weston on Film/TV?
Our period wallpaper designs have frequently been
We love working with set designers to produce bespoke colours and it is always a thrill to see our patterns come to life on the big screen. We look forward to revealing additional exciting collaborations in the coming months.
Why Fritz Porter?
Fritz Porter are true partners for us. We really see you as our advocate in the Southern States, and love working with you. We know you promote us strongly and Becky has become part of our team! Great in giving advice and helping us understand the market more fully.
