Dubai-Based Designer Judith Hobby’s Opens Her Home

New Zealander Judith Hobby, who has lived in the Middle East for 22 years and in Dubai for almost 17, is the founder of the Judith Hobby Clothing fashion line. Her modernist Arabian Ranches residence is the National’s “Home of the Week”.

Hobby and her family were one of the first to move into the now-burgeoning community – at the time, there was no golf club and the local school was only just opening. As a result, the family has watched the residential development grow, and become an ingrained part of the community.

“I love living here,” Hobby says. “I really enjoy that there are different architectural styles within the development. It makes it far more interesting than some of the other communities in Dubai.”

Hobby doesn’t believe style and comfort are mutually exclusive. It’s an ethos that she has clearly carried through into the design of her home. The living areas are an eclectic mix of items gathered over a number of years. Furniture ranges from a Marina sofa and Ikea chairs to a dining table that was custom-made in Bali 16 years ago.

At the other end of the scale are iconic Eames, Le Corbusier and Barcelona chairs, which play to the couple’s love of modernist design and architecture. “We ­always liked pieces that have been influenced by Bauhaus and the like. We wanted something that was in keeping with the feel of the architecture – clean, modern and quite neutral in tone.”

Original article by Selina Denman, The National, April 2, 2015.

Photo by Reem Mohammed.