Ionides was born in Scotland, the fourth son of Luke Ionides and grandson of
Alexander Constantine Ionides, art patron and collector. The Ionides were one a wealthy trading families originally from
Chios, part of the wider
Anglo-Greek community. He studied at
Tonbridge School and
Glasgow School of Art 1900–1903. While there, he wrote architecture articles. He served his apprenticeship with Alexander Nisbet Paterson, during which he designed his first building, the double villa in Winton Drive, when he was only 18. Upon the completion of his apprenticeship in 1904 or 1905, he moved to London and joined the office first of
Leonard Stokes and then of
Harold Ainsworth Peto. Ionides entered independent practice in 1908 and designed a number of English houses. During the First World War, he served in the
Naval Reserve and was
commissioned. He relinquished the commission, however, preferring to serve as an ordinary
seaman, as he did not like giving orders to more experienced men. He was injured in 1917 and returned to private practice, particularly performing interior work. She was an expert in
Oriental porcelain and collected art works, many of which were donated to the
Municipal Borough of Twickenham, later to become the
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The Ionides acquired
Buxted Park in
Buxted, Sussex in 1931. With a combination of Basil's discerning eye and Nellie's fortune as the
Shell Oil heiress, they restored the Park and became important art collectors. But fire destroyed much of the house in 1940, and the top storey was lost entirely, with much of their collection. He served as
High Sheriff of Sussex for 1944. Ionides was an important
Art Deco designer. He was best known as the architect (with Frank A. Tugwell) for the rebuilding of the
Savoy Theatre in London in 1929 and for Claridge's Restaurant. For the
Savoy Hotel's restaurant, he famously sculpted Kaspar, the Black Cat, who acts as a good-luck guest at tables if thirteen would otherwise be present. He published the important books
Colour and Interior Decoration in 1926 ==References==