This is the home of Sarah Mikhailova — and yet it resists being easily defined. Does an artist live here? A gallerist, perhaps? A collector? Or maybe “this luxurious home—filled with paintings, art objects, and antiques—belongs to an eccentric performer or a socialite?” The truth, as the house gently reveals, is more grounded and more magical: “among diverse canvases, the sparkle of crystal chandeliers, and the soft glow of candles lives a family with a child and a cat.”
It is never boring here. And yet, despite the riot of stories, textures and characters, the house wraps you in confidence and calm. Every space feels deliberate but never rigid — “a coherent, multifaceted personality on its own—full of surprises.”
Across three floors, the home unfolds like a novel. The first floor is a warm, theatrical introduction: an entryway crowned by a wine-coloured ceiling, anchored by a burgundy–ultramarine portrait and lit by a whimsical Odeon Light Riko boy chandelier. Throughout the home, “all lighting—chandeliers, lamps, candlesticks—comes from previous centuries,” giving the rooms a gentle glow that softens the edges of time.
The children’s bedroom is plush and romantic in pinks, peaches and burgundies, furnished not with a standard desk but an early-20th-century postman’s table. Framed fashion magazines from 1875 line the walls, while a vintage vanity brings old-world charm into daily rituals.
Even the corridors are curated: a black antique mirror draped with pearls faces a large canvas of two women symbolising the lady of the house and her daughter.
The kitchen–living space is where the home’s layered personality truly shines. A late-19th-century Belgian carved table sits beneath an antique blown-glass chandelier once owned by Russian writer Mikhail Prishvin. French chairs from the early 1900s surround it, while a modern transparent chair slips in mischievously. A bold arrangement of watermelons and dahlias reinterprets Dutch still lifes, reinforcing the house’s love of playful contradiction.
Everywhere, art lives naturally with furniture: a restored 1950s blue sofa, terracotta cushions, an oak bookcase, ballet portraits, and nostalgic lovers on canvas. Beyond the panoramic window, the garden waits — a quiet counterpoint to the visual richness inside.
Upstairs, a double-sided bookshelf becomes a bridge between floors. The guest room leans into sensuality, with velvets, tassels, brass candlesticks and artworks that feel intimate and expressive. A customised Antonín Šuman dresser blooms with textured clay petals, turning storage into sculpture.
The balcony is a collage of eras — zebra hide, kerosene lamp, plaster Apollo, Czech cabinets and 1990s IKEA — all somehow in effortless harmony.
The master suite reads like a collector’s dream. Swans glide across the corridor floor. The study is layered in mustard, pistachio and terracotta, filled with bold, witty artworks: “a hen wearing real pearls,” chilli peppers in shoes, lovers drawn in one line, coffee-tinted canvases. A dramatic Jesus profile stands beside a heart-shaped Seletti Love in Bloom vase.
The bedroom becomes a romantic boudoir with a 1970s crystal chandelier, chinoiserie dresser, Japanese crane screen and antique perfume bottles. Photographs of Paris from 1850–1870 sit beside a Kartell nightstand and a portrait of Boris Pasternak, collapsing centuries into a single, deeply personal moment.
The third floor is the home’s quiet epilogue. Here, under roof windows and warm lamplight, books, paintings and furniture create a contemplative lounge: Zanotta seating, a Belgian rocking chair, vintage Gubi stools and a 1916 travel trunk. Characters seem to emerge from the walls — riders, watchful eyes, fire-bearing women — while Stravinsky and Bernard Buffet preside over a Jan Vaněk wine cabinet crowned by a rare Chinese lamp.
It is a space for solitude, reading, firelight and reflection. And perhaps that is the secret of Sarah Mikhailova’s home: no matter how many stories it tells, it always leaves room for more.
Credits
Interior Designer and Decorator: Sarah Mikhailova
Photographers: Michael Brave, Sergey Ananyev
Stylist: Sarah Mikhailova
