YOUR MOZART-INSPIRED BUREAU WAS THE TALK OF 2006. WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?

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We’ll be exhibiting the Finsbury Desk, an oval-shaped piece, inspired by the historic Finsbury Conservation area in London. It’s made of walnut, sycamore, ebony and lacewood, with beautiful marquetry and hidden compartments. And we’ll also show the Mavis Box, a jewelry box that’s a replica of the first Palladian house in Scotland, with compartments tucked into the roof.

DO YOU AND YOUR WIFE, SERENA, COLLECT?

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Yes. We frequent the fairs and galleries. In my heart, I’m very much a modernist, but my taste became one taste when we were married [laughing]. I like to buy drawings and watercolors by living artists, and works by my sister [Lady Sarah Chatto] and her husband [Daniel Chatto], who’s also an artist. I also have paintings by Marianne Zeller, a landscape by Alexander Mackenzie [1923–2002] and a figurative work by Umarov Bakhtiyor [b. 1963], an Uzbek painter. Not very expensive pieces, but well-done. I’ve bought a few things from the Rebecca Hossack Gallery [London]. I admire the clean lines of work by Ron Arad and Marc Newson.

IS YOUR LONDON FLAT COMPLETELY CONTEMPORARY?

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No, I’ve always liked an amalgam of the old and the new. I have charcoal drawings by my great-uncle, Oliver Messel, and some furniture he designed, as well as a couple of Picasso drawings, my mother’s Sèvres and a set of inlaid George III chairs that were a gift from my father. But I do have Aero lounge chairs, contemporary lighting and Ikea pieces. Right now, with young children [Charles, 8, and Margarita, 5] bouncing around, we have to keep the London house cozy-comfortable. But as the children get older we’ll be able to expand our collecting.

DO YOU STILL COLLECT ANTIQUES?

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I collect clocks and have always liked antiques shops. In London, I look for discoveries at Ciancimino, Humphrey Carrasco and Stephen Long Antiques.

AND THE STYLE OF YOUR RESIDENCE IN FRANCE?

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It’s also kept simple, done all in local French things—shabby 19th-century chic. It’s rented out to Americans much of the year, so it needs to be fairly durable. They tend to leave the windows open …