Isle of Man, designed and prepared to sell

A remarkable private residence — elliptical central hall, elliptical rooms, built by its owner to his own exacting specification — unsold after seven years on the market. The brief was succinct: go and sort it out! Kate approached it as a strategy engagement rather than a design commission: appointing international representation, briefing and managing a staging company room by room, and redesigning the entire lower ground floor on paper — spa suite, cinema, bar, gym — delivered as photoreal CGI so buyers could see what the space could become. Relaunched to the international market within six months; sold within two years for £13m, resolving a seven-year impasse. Exceptional interior design was one tool in the toolkit.