House Tour: Adwoa Aboah’s Colourful & Comfortable Victorian-Era Home

Adwoa Aboah, the renowned model, actor, and activist, resides in a Victorian-era home with a front door that conceals its true essence. The unassuming black exterior hints at simplicity but offers no glimpse of the vibrant decor within. However, once you step into the entry hall, you’ll realize that appearances can be deceiving.

The first thing that catches your eye is a framed vintage Asafo flag, resplendent with symbolic African art. It serves as a beautiful tribute to Aboah’s Ghanaian and English heritage, surrounded by walls bathed in a soothing pink hue. A striking graphic stair runner adds to the visual feast. This is evidently not a home that adheres to minimalism.

Aboah explains that they intentionally placed the flag there right at the entrance as it sets the tone for the entire house. Her family have been collecting these for years.

Five years ago, she visited this four-story redbrick townhouse with her father, Charles, and her sister Kesewa, an artist and model. Aboah had been on the hunt for the perfect home, not too far from her parents’ West London residence. On paper, this house didn’t seem like the one. It was in disrepair, lacking electricity and heating, and divided into five units. However, when they walked in, they exchanged knowing glances.

The home seemed to be crumbling but there was an instant connection. Besides the flaws, she knew this was meant to be her home.

Adwoa Aboah, known for gracing the covers of prestigious magazines like British Vogue and headlining campaigns for fashion giants such as Chanel and Burberry, always had a distinct vision for her home. She desired a space that was far from a typical showpiece. Aboah’s upbringing in a house brimming with patterns and vibrant colours, where nothing quite matched, left a lasting impression. It was a place that exuded comfort and unpretentious charm, a feeling she wanted to replicate.

The restoration journey began with the collaboration between Aboah and architectural designer Lewis Kane. However, her busy schedule, split between London and LA, necessitated additional expertise. This is where Beata Heuman, the acclaimed interior decorating virtuoso hailing from Sweden and based in London, came into the picture. Heuman is renowned for her fearless approach to colour, pattern, and unconventional shapes in design. Aboah was drawn to her work and fearless attitude with colour and pattern.

For Heuman and her head of interior design Fosca Mariani, it was clear this was going to be a collaborative process. “Adwoa has a really strong sense of style, so her thing always was to find someone who understood that, who she felt could enhance or contribute. It’s about interpreting who she is. It was great to work with a client who is so focused.”

As such, souvenirs of Aboah’s life abound in the spaces, giving this home its heartfelt character. Dotted around are creative contributions from family and friends—even her garden was designed by her aunt, landscape designer Sarah Husband. Aboah’s library is a trove of eclectic curios (including her own Barbie doll), rare and personal photographs, artwork—a wall tapestry made by her sister as part of her art school degree hangs in a prominent spot—and books collected over the years.

Her living room was designed around a large-scale hanging by Ariana Papademetropoulos. “A friend introduced me to her artwork, and I completely fell in love,” says Aboah. Two bespoke sofas act as calming counterpoints while an ottoman, upholstered in Warris Vianni’s Naivasha in pink, adds, as Heuman notes, “some sass.”

A new kitchen side extension allowed a run of birch plywood cabinetry, painstakingly stained a custom yellow. Most of the pieces here are freestanding, including the bottle-green banquette, beneath a work by Ghanaian artist Gideon Appah. “I didn’t want to have anything in a fixed position—what if I want to have a party?” laughs Aboah.

Unexpected details are a hallmark of Heuman’s work and are seen in abundance, from the delightful glossy blue ceiling in the library to the sherbet-lemon plumbing fixtures in the powder room. Or indeed in the dressing room, where neutral floor-to-ceiling cabinetry has been zhuzhed up with ruby trim.

Via