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Gillespie's social stature might be nonplussed at the prospect of settling into a Melbourne apartment of just nine squares. But instead, with the style and assurance that have made him a fixture of both the Australian and New York art worlds, lawyer Gillespie simply moved into one of the new Perrott, Lyon, Mathieson-designed Yarra Park Apartments and then drew upon the inspiration of his equally formidable friends and contacts.
For instance, finding himself mildly perplexed by how to maximise space and accommodate those glittering Gillespie parties at which international luminaries sit back and swap anecdotes with their Australian counterparts, Henry called in his friend, Sydney designer Darryl Gordon. "Darryl's concept is that you should be able to seat in your sitting room as many people as you're having to dinner," he explains.
To achieve what would have seemed the impossible, Gordon arranged furniture for intimacy and flexibility. Particularly inspired was a bench he positioned in front of a large painting by Queensland artist Joe Furlonger. This bench seats three comfortably. When it's not needed, it provides another surface for Gillespie's ubiquitous art books. It was also Gordon's suggestion to visually enlarge the space by tiling living areas with the same Haddonstone that was used on the sweep of the adjoining terrace.
Which isn't to say that Henry Gillespie lacks the strength of his own aesthetic convictions. After calling in a curator friend to advise him on hanging his collection of contemporary paintings, Henry listened, agreed with the merits of the suggestions and then happily rearranged it all when the friend had gone.
"I like the French salon way of hanging," he explains. "I like to stack paintings. These artists are all friends and it's all for my personal enjoyment, anyway."
Evidence of another friend sits on a round tea table, where a discreetly framed photograph captures Henry sharing a sofa with a beaming Queen Mother. "She and I get on very well because of her interest in art," he says. "We also have friends in common in New York."
Such is Henry's aesthetic assurance that he has incorporated into this heady mix a time-worn biscuit tin he rescued from someone's pile of rubbish. The tin now sits in close proximity to a red royal seal box ("For my correspondence with the Queen Mother," he quips), and a portrait of Henry that was a gift from his friend, Andy Warhol. The portrait hangs just inside the entrance. "It's fun having it there, because when I open the door, I'm in front of my own image," he says.
When Henry entertains, he takes full advantage of the treetop-level terrace which was the main impetus to his buying this apartment. Remarkably generous by Melbourne standards, the terrace suits his purpose beautifully, seating up to 16 at two tables of eight for balmy summer dinner parties. The iron tables were made by Chris Connell of MAP, Melbourne. Connell also designed an ash dining table and side table which complement Los Angeles architect Frank Gehry's wonderfully sculptural chairs, which Henry brought back from New York. "You can buy them here now," he adds.
Even the tiny dining area is given maximum airiness, by the glazing to the terrace and by a staircase wall that is open to both the dining and sitting areas. Upstairs is just one modest bedroom, which is spared boxiness by french doors that open to views of neighbouring Victorian rooftops and the marvellous city scape. A wall of wardrobes stops short of the corner, creating an open, balustraded space overlooking the sitting room, which also draws light from the stairwell window.
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