Max Rollitt was born into the world of antiques, his mother a successful dealer with a shop in Winchester. Having studied cabinetmaking and furniture design, he was apprenticed to Frearson & Hewlett – an antique furniture restoration workshop – and it was there that he developed his appreciation of patina, period and craftsmanship. And so, in 1993, Max took over his mother’s business, joined the London antique fair circuit, and began selling to leading interior designers.

It was his interactions with designers (‘Do you have another chair like this?’) that inspired him to start designing and making what would become Max Rollitt Bespoke furniture. In 2005, he took the next natural step into interior design when an antiques client hired him as their dealer-decorator. That first project, a Hampshire vicarage, was published in House & Garden in 2011, and Max has been listed in the House & Garden Top 100 consistently since 2012. In 2026, he was named the magazine’s Interior Designer of the Year.