25 beautiful baths for every kind of house
There are few things as decadent as a really spectacular bath. They can come in many shapes and sizes: a deep tub with a luxurious marble surround (perfect for setting down a drink); a classic roll-top placed in front of a window with a view; a bath where you might not expect to find one, forming part of a decorative scheme in a bedroom. We've searched the archive for the most show-stopping baths seen on the pages of House & Garden to inspire us all to make bathtime that little more luxurious. Of course, we cannot all find the space for such showstoppers, but hey, we can dream, and why not try distilling some of the ideas from this gallery to make your own bath more of a centrepiece? Consider some different materials and look at gleaming copper baths, ash-clad beauties or our favourite, a stone bath for something truly on another level.
Alex James1/26In designer Louise Jones' 16th-century Surrey farmhouse, three small rooms were united to make a splendid main bathroom with a ceiling rising into the eaves, revealing the ancient wooden framework that supports the roof. A nude by Charley Garry hangs above a chair in a George Spencer Designs gingham that echoes the checks of a Pierre Frey blind. The Aston Matthews’ bathtub is painted in Zuber’s ‘XV Août’ to tone with GP & J Baker’s ‘Chifu’ wallpaper.
Michael Sinclair2/26The spa room in this country house by Alice B. Davies was inspired by Japanese onsens, and features a steam room, along with a solid limestone bath and heated limestone platform. The bath was carved out of a block of stone, with the distinctive vertical lines created in the quarrying process.
Chris Horwood3/26Lining the side of the bath with a mirror is a super clever idea for a small bathroom. Designer James Shaw has employed it in his London house, so that it reflects the Domus ’Seta’ mosaic tiles with ‘illustrations’ created from colour samples.
Lucas Allen4/26If you want to ensure your bathroom is in keeping with the rest of the house, this serene bathroom in a 17th-century house designed by Rose Uniacke is one to copy. A simple white freestanding bath takes centre stage in the middle of the room, surrounded by panelled walls, wide wooden floorboards, and elegant sconces - bathroom ideas designed to make it feel less clinical and more comfortable.
Paul Massey5/26The owners of this Thirties Georgian-style house asked designer Henri Fitzwilliam-Lay to conjure distinctive interiors full of idiosyncratic details. The bath in the main bathroom is certainly a place to be, with its luxurious Breccia Pontificia marble surround, wide enough to hold your books, a glass of wine, and plenty of bottles of bath oil. Woodwork in ‘Copper Beech’ by Paint & Paper Library tones with the Habibi wall tiles and adds a rich, warm feel, while mirrored walls help to make the space feel larger.
Owen Gale6/26A wallpapered bathroom may raise questions about damp, but in a well-ventilated room, it shouldn't be a problem and can be wonderfully enveloping. In Joanna Plant's west London house she used a now-discontinued vintage wallpaper by Laura Ashley, which Joanna collected roll by roll from Ebay. The wallpaper stretches around her bedroom and bathroom, and continues up onto the ceilings for a cocooning effect. The roll-top bath is from Fired Earth. The chair is one made in the Plants’ workshop, upholstered in Bennison’s ‘Rosevine’.
Christopher Horwood7/26The bathroom of this charming thatched country house is incredibly charming and the model of a cottage bathroom in our view, including floral paintings and even bookshelves. The primary bathroom has woodwork painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Lulworth Blue’. The blind is Bennison's ‘Liliana Light Blue'.
Paul Massey8/26In the bathroom of this Sussex cottage desgined by Beata Heuman, pale Arabescata marble has been used for the elegant bath surround and splashback instead of tiles. The placement of the bath into the middle of the room makes the bath the focal point of the room.
Martin Morrell9/26Baths can be rather inviting when placed in a room other than a dedicated bathroom. For their latest house, a 19th-century barn with outbuildings in Oxfordshire, Mark and Georgie Rowse have drawn on their extensive renovation experience to create a characterful and welcoming home. The rustic Hermitage provides charming additional accommodation for family members and friends. Their son, a writer, finds the space ideal, as he can go straight from bed to bath to the antique military chest that serves as a desk. The bath is from Mongers Architectural Salvage, while walls painted in a specially mixed blue set off the Indian block-print bedcover from Faro Home.
Simon Brown10/26At Ballyfin, a grand Irish house transformed into a country hotel, one bathroom has as its bath a Roman sarcophagus acquired in 1822. Just make sure your floors are reinforced if you're planning anything similar!
Davide Lovatti11/26In another iteration of the ‘bath in study’ design, the main bedroom at Italian palace Corte della Maestà, La Badessa, features a free-standing bathtub alongside an alcove of books.
Alexander James12/26This simple freestanding bath looks marvellous in an Edwardian villa designed by William Smalley in an austere contemporary style. Wooden floors and brass fittings warm the scheme up, and we particularly like the elegant tap that rises from the floor.
Simon Watson13/26A mother-and-daughter design duo has taken an unconventional approach to the conversion of a sixteenth-century convent in Tuscany, filling the rooms with objects and artworks of their own making. In this bathroom Venetia painted an abstract watery cloudscape on the ceiling of one of the bathrooms and a trompe l'oeil design behind the bath; the ceramic lion’s-paw feet for the bath were made by Holly.
Mark Anthony Fox14/26In this spectacular contemporary Cornish house, a bath clad in ash complements the ash framing the window. It sits on original floorboards and enjoys one of the best views that a bather could hope for.
Paul Massey15/26Curtains in Robert Kime's floral linen ‘Rocca’ frames a bath from Drummonds in this glorious Georgian house decorated by Joanna Plant. Joanna adapted the house to cater for the modern need for a bathroom with every bedroom by placing a freestanding tub under the triptych bay window in the best spare room, and sneaking a tiny basin and lavatory behind a jib door.
Simon Upton16/26The main bathroom at Bowood – a quintessential English country house – features a chintz-covered free-standing bathtub. It is a large-scale lilac chintz from Colefax & Fowler, which has since been discontinued, and which appears on the walls and curtains too.
Rachel Whiting17/26The owners of this London house called on interior designer Beata Heuman to create a family home full of fun, distinctive design and punchy colours. The opulent, free-standing bath was copied from a Twenties design that Beata spotted in an old magazine. 'It was quite difficult to work out how to make it. Fortunately, we had a very good joiner and we discovered a specialist timber from the Netherlands that is used in boat building and can be submerged in water for 10 years without any ill effect.'
Owen Gale18/26A gleaming copper bath grabs your attention in the en suite bathroom of Jeremy Langmead's house, decorated by Susan Deliss. The potential coldness of the metal is balanced by soft decorating; a carpet underfoot and patterned wallpaper.
Paul Massey19/26A cast-iron Aston Matthews ‘Epoca’ bath, its sides painted in Emente’s ‘Orpiment’, provides a colourful contrast with Robert Kime’s ‘Grille Sage’ wallpaper and muted panelling in this bathroom by Ben Pentreath.
Michael Sinclair20/26With a characteristic respect for the fabric of this eighteenth-century house in Bath, designer Patrick Williams has carefully transformed it into a welcoming home and B&B. During the restoration the owners enriched the house with all sorts of additions that look as though they have always been there - a corner cupboard on a landing or pilasters in the family bathroom, for instance. When the project started, Patrick spoke to several reclamation yards asking them to put aside any suitable elements for a Georgian house. He also trawled Ebay. Jig Baths offers a similar round tub to the one used here.
Andrew Montgomery21/26At Atelier Vime's hôtel particulier an alcove framed in pale blue contains a slipper bath backed by original eighteenth-century wallpaper.
22/26Paint & Paper Library’s ‘Squid Ink’ paint was used on the Aston Matthews roll-top bath, beside panelling in ‘Salvador’ oil eggshell by the same company in Robin Muir's Cotswolds bathroom. The inky tones create an elegant and cocooning effect.
23/26This Georgian house, once inhabited by Huguenot silk weavers, has been carefully restored by architect Chris Dyson. In the bathroom a slipper bath stands on a Carrara-marble plinth.
David Oliver24/26Veere Grenney used a vintage copper free-standing tub from The Water Monopoly in a bathroom of a Mustique beach house.
Camera Press25/26At this fashion designer's sensitively restored Georgian house a vintage solid walnut Eames ‘Stool C’ echoes the curves of a ‘Paris’ bath from The Water Monopoly.
26/26At Inchyra House in Scotland an elegant bathroom features taupe curtains, a matching claw-foot bathtub and a view to the garden.
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