At home with Madonna

26 October 2000 by
At home with Madonna

I get up at 8am and let out Rat, my Jack Russell dog. Whatever the weather, I follow him out into the garden in my nightshirt for a walk. It's important to be in touch with the real world for a brief moment. I feed the birds and I put down specially made hedgehog food, but the hedgehogs are yet to arrive. I think Rat's stealing their food.

After my bath, I sit down with a cup of coffee to compose myself for the day ahead. Come rain or shine, I ride my scooter from Kennington to Home House - it takes about 20 minutes - and arrive at about 9.30am. If Rat comes with me, though, I'll jump in a cab.

I meet with all heads of department at 10am, and discuss what happened yesterday and what is expected to happen today. Then I launch myself into the whirlwind of the day.

My goals for Home House were very clear on opening some 20 months ago [February 1999]: I wanted to create a relaxed atmosphere where people knew they could get old- fashioned service but with a friendly attitude. I wanted women to be able to come here on their own and feel comfy, not intimidated. And it's worked - we're busy all the time, with up to three or four parties a night and full occupancy.

But although we operate within a Grade I-listed building - a monument, in effect - we are not at all stuffy.

We have a lot of high-profile people - such as Madonna and Lionel Ritchie - staying here, and a lot of time is spent on planning their visits.

Members of their entourage will come in advance to take photos of rooms and check out security arrangements. They all assume that we've never looked after such people before - but we go through every tiny detail very carefully and ensure their every need is covered. Madonna requested a microwave in her room to heat her daughter's food.

While painstaking work is still going on to renovate Robert Adam's original designs, we are already planning to expand into the house next door, which we have just acquired. This will give us an additional 12,000sq ft of space, and in the next 18 months we intend to double the size of the health spa and open more private dining rooms, a cinema, another bar and a second restaurant.

More clubs will follow, but I don't yet know where they'll be. I've got to look at where our members like to go - and that's more likely to be Aspen, Gstaad, St Moritz, Milan, Paris, New York, the Caribbean or Sydney than somewhere in the British countryside. I hope to make an announcement by the spring.

Lunch is usually some grilled chicken and salad at my desk, although I'll probably eat lunch in the restaurant twice a week. I'm on a diet, but it's a constant battle. Paul Williams, the restaurant manager, helps me by stopping me from eating chips, potatoes and bread.

Because of the historic nature of the house - it was built in 1776 for the Countess of Home and is Robert Adam's finest surviving London town house - we have frequent visits from interested bodies from all over the world. One day I might be showing around the Historic Buildings Trust, and another English Heritage or the World Monuments Fund.

Several evenings each week I am invited to parties being held by members. There is always so much going on - piano recitals, poetry readings, art lectures or glamorous parties to mark a product launch or promote a magazine. We've just launched the World Chess Championship here with Gary Kasparov.

It's not unusual for me to arrive home at 1am. But I don't go to bed until 3am. I'll watch a bit of TV, listen to some music and just catch up. Even though I've just bought some beautiful Egyptian cotton sheets from John Lewis, I never spend more than five hours in bed - any more than that is an indulgence.

interview by Janet Harmer

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