Homing

Max Rollitt is a highly respected interior decorator and antiques dealer. Extraordinary pieces pass through his hands every day, yet most of the objects he chooses to live with at home have little monetary value. Instead, they are tokens of respect and love.

The conversation begins with Max’s childhood in Winchester, where he struggled at school because he processed information in images – something we’d now recognise as dyslexia. It’s this visual approach that is the foundation for a ‘Max Rollitt’ interior: decorating a home the way an artist composes a painting.

Nowhere is that sensibility clearer than in his family farmhouse in the South Downs. Every piece of furniture and object has a story to tell: artworks from his sons, photographs of his wife, and handmade gifts from his mentors. During our private home tour, some of these objects even moved Max to tears. 

We also talk about how to create a nurturing environment for creative children, the grounding effect of rural life and finding personal fulfilment through spirituality.

This episode is about how the objects we surround ourselves with are more than aesthetic items – they are containers for people and experiences.

This episode was recorded in person at Max’s farmhouse in the South Downs.

– Matt

An extended version of the tour is available to our Patreon community.

Much like her taxidermy-based sculptures, Polly Morgan is an artist who delights in looking beneath the surface. 

Her home in Camberwell is deliberately minimalist - a space viewers may recognise from Netflix’s Baby Reindeer. As she prepares to move out after 13 years, with most of her possessions already shipped off to the countryside, she reflects on the highs and lows of her time there. 

Growing up in the Cotswolds, Polly’s childhood was characterised by watching animals die and by seeing her father dissect bodies to understand anatomy. Those early experiences formed her way of seeing, not as something morbid, but as a curiosity about life and its endings.

Entirely self-taught, Polly has always worked slightly outside of artistic convention. She speaks about wanting to notice what most people overlook, to find the parts of things that are usually hidden.

It’s with this same outlook that she talks about the loss of her sister and mother, and the decision to say goodbye to her city life as she prepares to return to the countryside.

This is a conversation about artistic process, growing older, family, and learning what to hold on to and what to let go of.

This episode was recorded in person at Polly’s home in Camberwell.

Chris Packham has always fascinated me. As a broadcaster, naturalist, and conservationist, he’s helped millions connect with wildlife and the natural world through shows like BBC’s Springwatch – but sitting down with him in his home, I realised how much of his story is about creating refuge, both at home and within himself.

In this deeply personal conversation, Chris speaks candidly about his childhood in Southampton, being diagnosed with autism in his forties, and how he has designed a home that helps him manage sensory sensitivities – ironically filled with furniture and artwork that is deliberately uncomfortable.

He reflects on solitude versus loneliness and how nature provides safety, structure and healing when the human world feels overwhelming.

It’s a conversation about finding comfort in discomfort, about refuge and resilience, and, above all, about what it means to feel at home in the world.

It’s also one of the most memorable episodes I’ve ever recorded. 

This episode was recorded in person at Chris' home in the New Forest.

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The Homing podcast explores the importance of home in shaping who we are.

Join Matt Gibberd, author and co-founder of The Modern House, as he takes listeners inside the homes of inspiring guests to examine what really happens inside our walls – how they influence our emotions, creativity and sense of self.

Featuring leading voices from art, film, wellbeing and beyond, Homing is a thoughtful journey into remarkable homes and the minds that shape them. 

Be prepared for tears, laughter, and everything in between.

"The Best Podcasts To Listen To" – Vogue 

Homing is produced by Podshop, with music by Simeon Walker.

Homing is an independent podcast and operates as a separate venture from The Modern House Limited. While Matt Gibberd is a co-founder of The Modern House, all opinions expressed on Homing are solely those of the host and his guests.

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