Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)
FROM top crime writers to leading royals, Hollywood actors to Premiership stars and tech billionaires to half of Take That, is it any wonder the clients of Rock ‘n’ Rolf expect them to deliver and do it on time.
The artists – who live in Malaga’s inspirational Serrania de Ronda mountains – are a married couple who have worked between London, Los Angeles, Greece, France and Spain for the last three decades.
Transforming homes, designing furniture and painting film sets, there is literally no type of interior design demand they haven’t had to tackle.
In short, they are creatives, who have made a good living from harnessing the arts.
Paul Rolf comes from a family of upholsterers (his dad was in charge of all the furniture at the Bank of England) while Emma Cherry’s mum was a free spirit who brought her family up in Ibiza in the Sixties.
“If you had to narrow down what we do I’d say we are stylists, fine specialist painters and surface finishers,” explains Emma, who also teaches yoga and frequently takes to the stage, performing in both English and Spanish.
“We often work with interior designers, but more often directly with clients and some of our favourite projects have been around Marbella, in particular up in the exclusive enclave of Zagaleta, creating bespoke finishes for several clients with multiple properties.”
Unable to give many names due to confidentiality clauses, they can reveal that one of them is an international software mogul (‘all top end and top of the range’), while others are ‘well known celebrities’.
“But I can tell you Emma once did a job at Highgrove House for the former Prince of Wales… yes, the King,” explains Paul, who grew up in North London, before attending art college where he studied painting.
“Oh and we recently painted the London home of Ian McEwan. It was an extraordinary job with a myriad of original touches… and we also did the kitchen of Thandie Newton, who doesn’t mind us mentioning her,” he laughs.
Their remarkable skills include fantasy marble, chinoiserie, washes, murals, antique finishes, distressing, decoupage and anything else you can apply to a surface.
“We work with so many different types of paint and work on fabric, furniture and walls,” explains Emma, who studied at drama college.
“But, above all, we are into simple, well executed jobs with an attention to detail. That is what most motivates and inspires us.”
“And we love transforming spaces and particularly love upcycling,” continues Paul, who admits to frequently visiting rubbish dumps for furniture and other items.
But this, he explains, ‘guarantees’ original items and their love of creativity has brought them work with some of the world’s leading names in kitchen and furniture design, including Chalon, Smallbone, Martin Moore and Humphrey Munson, not to mention London-based designers Violet & George and Godrich Interiors, Matthew Williamson, in Mallorca and JW Interiors, in Oxford.
They themselves have bought and remodelled many homes since meeting 25 years ago in London.
After working in France and America, they fell in love with the mountainous Ronda area, where they turned a small village house into the hippest, New York-style loft space maximising on light and views and crammed full of their dozens of amazing artworks and collectibles.
It’s a remarkable home, perched at the top of the village of Benaojan, with a leafy garden full of olive, carob and lemon trees and a large, open-plan living area with bespoke furnishings, bright lights and brushed concrete floors.
Everything is curated to feel like a film set, a la Sexy Beast, with a backdrop of amazing mountain peaks and nothing feeling out of place.
There is a particular emphasis on hues, tones and textures, while the selection of everyday items is thoughtful. Their choice of fabric, furniture and lighting is peerless.
The building cascades down the steep village slope and a guided tour leads you through a warren of bedrooms and then into a totally separate three-bedroom apartment, ideal for friends to stay and with the same level of style.
They make a good team, with Paul having a very architectural perspective and a keen eye for detail, while Emma is their interpreter and translator of ideas, guiding their choices.
Together they like nothing more than ‘hunting for treasure and rummaging around’ ending up reusing and reinventing everyday items and objects.
“We are influenced by the past, present and future, not just in terms of design, but also from an ethical, sustainable and philosophical perspective.
“We definitely want to make as little impact on the environment as possible and adopt an old fashioned make-do and mend attitude.
Contact them at http://www.rocknrolf.co.uk/rocknrolf.pdf or @rocknrolf on Instagram
