Miv
Surrounded by timeless charm, Miv Watts relaxes in the heart of Lexis—a home filled with stories, art, and soulful beauty.
Miv Watts
Miv Watts, the mentor and inspiration for this Design Retreat, has spent her life involved in two major creative industries – music and film – working with artists at the top of their art. Her daughter is Hollywood film actress Naomi Watts, her son the photographer Ben Watts, and her late husband, Pete, was the sound engineer for Pink Floyd from their inception in the mid 1960s. She learned at an early age that ‘creativity’ is seeing what others see – but then thinking for yourself and having the courage to follow your thought. It is this practice that is the focus of the retreat:
“Creating a home is about filtering the layers and experiences of one’s life. It is theatrical, like creating a drama or film – but a home is also a process, it has a strong practical element. It is a mix of dreaming and deciding. Feeling and function.”
Miv learned at an early age that ‘creativity’ is seeing what others see – but then thinking for yourself and having the courage to follow your thought.
As an interior designer she has worked in some of the world’s most atmospheric places – from historic estates like Houghton Hall, owned by the Marquess of Cholmondeley – to the cosy homes of friends, like the singer and songwriter Marianne Faithfull – and her best-selling book ‘The Maverick Soul’, a collection of portraits of 25 homes and their owners – reflects the eclecticism of the wise, the well travelled, and the curious.
The Retreats reflect her approach to life – a mindful pace that allows for deeper reflection, creativity and a celebration of the beauty found in imperfection.
“For me, design can never be just about the look, it is about the story a room tells. When we ruminate in strangers rooms, we remember. And when we make our own rooms, we make them with memories of our own. Our rooms are sleeping inside us. It is a complex relationship between past and present.”
Lexis, Miv’s home, and the base for the Retreat, is an eighteenth century manor surrounded by ancient oak woods, situated in historic Gascony an area of south-west France. The house resembles a treasure trove – it is full of human warmth and breathes intimacy. Cushioned sofas invite you to pick up the books left lying on tables. Walls are thick with paintings – mostly portraits – looking down on the patterns of the textiles, the grain in the wood, the artfully curated ceramics and objet trouve’ collected over decades.
Most people who come to Gascony, for its medieval history and the fact that it is the home of the original Three Musketeers. Then, they fall in love with its natural beauty, the sense of space, and the peace this evokes. The light in the mornings is soft and warm and at night the skies are the clearest in Europe, an immense carpet of stars that remind you of the vastness beyond. All you can hear is silence.
“Nature inspires me. Nature evolves blindly, haphazardly, over millions of years and much of what we call ‘design’ evolves from the natural world. The reason airplanes are the shape they are, came from watching dolphins. There is much to learn from nature”.
In these retreats Miv brings together groups of people learning to create a home that evokes an organic story of its own through instinctive choices and the courage to avoid trends and consumerism. The retreat focuses on emotional connection, cultural heritage, eco-conscious practices and personal storytelling.