Patrick Williams on Grief, Restoration and the House That Shaped His Life
6/4/20261 hr 27 min
Patrick Williams is an interior decorator who specialises in period buildings and restoration projects. He views design not just as decoration, but as a form of storytelling and historical preservation.
Patrick is the founder of Berdoulat, a design practice named after the remarkable house in France that his parents restored over a twenty-year period during his childhood – a project that became central to their family story and continues to shape his work today.
In this conversation, we talk about grief, inheritance, and the rituals that connect him to his family roots, including a cherished family recipe he makes called "The Truth".
We also explore Patrick's fascination with classical architecture and his belief that the best buildings are designed in harmony with the human body: through proportion, acoustics and the accumulation of patina over time.
This is a story about memory and belonging, and how the places we inhabit keep us connected to the people who shaped us, long after they're gone.
A full tour of Patrick’s beautiful eighteenth-century house in Bath is available to our Patreon community.
Patreon: http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt
Patrick's book, The House Rules, published by Quadrille, charts the evolution of Patrick Williams' design studio, Berdoulat and is a stunning visual exploration of his practice and meticulous approach to working with period buildings.
To hear more from us:
YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt, to watch the video version
Instagram: @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at hello@mattgibberd.com
Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496
Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office
Produced by @podshoponline
The full visualised tour of Patrick’s home is available to our Patreon community.
Patreon: http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsPatrick Williams· Guest0:00
When I cleared out my parents' home, I was amazed by the fact that when the contents of the home were packed up, it was no longer their home. The objects, whether it's books or furniture or little random little things, they are what make someone's home their home. Successful buildings should be thought about almost as extensions of ourselves as living organisms, so they should swell and shrink and move with the seasons. Surfaces should be allowed to acquire beautiful patina. I was suddenly an orphan, and that was a funny feeling, particularly because my parents have always been real kind of hero figures for me. I think to suddenly exist in a world where they're not there at the end of the phone or, you know, physically, you know, I felt quite, quite lost.
Matt Gibberd· Host1:05
Hello. Welcome to a new episode of Homing with me, Matt Gibbard. My guest today is the interior decorator Patrick Williams. Patrick is the founder of Berde Lat, a design practice named after the remarkable house in France that his parents painstakingly restored over a 20-year period during his