LAL KOTHI

TEXTILE LOVERS PETER AND CECILE D'ASCOLI TRANSFORM THEIR DELHI FARMHOUSE INTO A KALEIDOSCOPIC FEAT OF COLOUR AND PATTERN.

- COSMO BROCKWAY

On a recent night at Lal Kothi, the Delhi farmhouse of textile and fashion designers Peter and Cecile D'Ascoli, candlelight and the full moon glowed together as guests gathered sur l'herbe for dinner. "It's like dining at an Indian Versailles," remarked author William Dalrymple over masala aubergines sprinkled with gunpowder and Sri Lankan pepper. In this verdant corner, tucked away from the city's hustle, the couple has quietly established themselves as creative tastemakers.

After founding Talianna Textiles, a design atelier, in 2006, Peter and Cecilefrom New York and Paris respectively made India their home. Ensconced, rather snugly, in a South Delhi apartment along with two daughters, the chance to embark on a new chapter "with our own fruit trees and a sense of breathing out" moving to a villa surrounded by lawns proved too irresistible to pass up. "We first visited Lal Kothi not knowing anything about the place or the family who owned it," recalls Peter, crisp in a white kurta, legs elegantly crossed in a rattan chair. "While the gardens were very impressive, our first impression was negative because the previous tenants had placed a green plastic covering over the central skylight that cast a bilious pall over everything." A second visit seduced them and the mid-century house called out to be transformed into a family home, as well as a showcase for Peter's collection of interior textiles.