Decorating Park Crescent

Park Crescent is one of London's most architecturally magnificent set-pieces, designed by John Nash in the early nineteenth century as a sweeping curved terrace of Ionic-columned stucco that forms the southern entrance to Regent's Park. Originally conceived as a full circus, the completed crescent faces Portland Place and frames the approach to the park with an unbroken facade of cream stucco and paired Ionic columns that is widely regarded as one of Nash's greatest achievements. The interiors of the crescent's townhouses are equally grand, with high ceilings, full-height sash windows and the kind of decorative plasterwork that demands the very finest in period restoration craft.

Park Crescent's Nash stucco facade is maintained under strict Crown Estate guidelines, with approved contractors required to use specific heritage masonry paints in the original off-white tone to preserve the architectural unity of the crescent. Interior work on the grand principal rooms calls for specialist period decorators skilled in gilding, marbling and lime-based plasterwork restoration.