Article: A Conversation with Jessica Alken
A Conversation with Jessica Alken
At Decorum we love working with local Cornish businesses.
We were recently lucky enough to partner with Jessica Alken, the creative powerhouse behind Atlanta Trevone - a collection of some of the most beautiful luxury holiday lets you'll find anywhere in Cornwall.
We were thrilled to be part of her refurbishment of Atlanta Trevone's Plum Cottage, a stunning Grade II listed cottage in the heart of Padstow.
We sat down with Jessica to discuss her love of Cornwall and where she finds her design inspiration.
Can you describe your style in 5 words?
Traditional but with a personality.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
The idea. When we find the house, it's the early stages of the project - both the architectural ideas and the interior style, the “ooos and ahhhs” and pushing creative boundaries. It costs me some sleep at night but for me that's the most exciting part.
Your projects always come with a very clear aesthetic. Do you approach your properties with a ready made aesthetic in mind or does it develop over thecourse of the renovations?
Usually we have a pretty clear idea of what we want for the project and we have enjoyed working with HAM interiors on some of our projects too, especially Plum Cottage. Together we come up with something traditional but with personality, the art we source plays a crucial role in this tone too.
You're best known for your Atlanta Trevone luxury rentals. How did you go about decorating your own home?
When I designed Atlanta, I wanted to make sure each property was a home I could quite happily move into tomorrow. The cliché “home away from home” can only really be achieved if you design it as if you were yours. Where we live now is not much dissimilar to the Penthouse, it’s got a whiter lighter more Beach House feel to it but the living space for example is dark green and moody like Plum Cottage. Of course every time we do something new, and it works well - I want to recreate it at home too - but my husband has to rein me in.
![]()
Your Cornish roots run pretty deep - what do you think is so special about Cornwall?
Cornwall can be so raw yet wholesome, especially Trevone Bay. Most people who come here don't (just) want the summer sunshine but they want to embrace the off season windy walks, the wild waves, and the cosy fireplaces. We leaned into that at Plum Cottage - there are no smooth edges, or clean lines - everything is slightly wonky, authentic, rugged and raw just like the coastline. Just breathing in the salty sea air is therapy for your soul.
We were thrilled when you chose our Cornish Delft tiles for one of your recent renovations. It's a big collection so how did you decide on the motifs?
I absolutely love the Delft Tile range, even more so after visiting your team of talented artists who paint together and create these bespoke tiles. I knew they would be perfect for Plum Cottage.
My favourite being the "nearly home trees" which is so special to me from when I loved in London and travelled home each time to see family, I felt such a sense of peace and gratitiude when passing these trees.
If you weren't a renovator and luxury rentals guru, what would you be instead?
I think I would have been a good lawyer. My mother always said "like a dog with a bone, when you have something in your head, you just have to make it exactly right and you don't stop it until it is exactly so" which in some ways is why my attention to detail has to be perfect for each project we take on.
What's next for you?
I've always had my eye on doing Atlanta Farm, but now is not the time. Next is another coastal project - we've recently bought a small parcel of land just 100 yards from the beach and we envision leaning into Matunick Beach Hut vibes - with shingle clad walls and a white washing porch. This isn't something you see very often here in the UK, it's a bit of a relic from a simpler time and I'd like to pay homage to the old days here on the Cornish coast.
