Carlos Garcia's colourful take on a handsome Queen Anne house in Norfolk
Fifty years ago, when travelling down Norfolk lanes, you would often come across handsome red-brick, gable-ended houses – hidden gems steeped in history and untouched by the passing years save for peeling paint, lichen and unkempt gardens. But since the Eighties financial boom, many of these houses have been bought and dragged kicking and screaming into the modern age – and all their mystery and beauty has gone.
So we must be grateful that this house was inherited by a couple who wanted to update it while preserving its special character and who asked Carlos Garcia, the Spanish-born and London- and Norfolk-based designer, to help them. ‘This house has been cherished by their family for generations, so they were keen to introduce modernity without changing its character, which was music to my ears,’ he explains.
‘I treated the house with respect. It is very romantic with beautiful proportions, but it’s something of a mélange,’ Carlos continues. ‘The core is Tudor with Queen Anne additions, and both the staircase and the carved front door came from other houses. Nothing had been done to it for years and there were only two bathrooms. So the challenge was to update it, including rewiring and introducing three more bathrooms, but make it look as if it had not been modernised.’
The entrance hall does indeed look untouched, but this is far from the case. The Edwardians mucked up the panelling and the ceiling of lath and plaster was in a terrible state. The builders suggested taking it down and levelling it, but Carlos insisted that they make it good and retain the bumps. The panelling was repaired and the uneven walls were retained. As he says, ‘If something works, work within these limitations, make good and leave it.’
For the sitting room, Carlos asked Edward Bulmer to mix him a magnolia paint ‘reminiscent of what is found in old country houses’ as a suitable backdrop for a multitude of fabrics and patterns. ‘I love the fact that there is not one plain fabric in the room,’ Carlos says with a laugh. A family sofa was re-covered in Soane’s ‘Kaleidoscope’ weave in indigo and the curtains are Bennison Fabrics’ ‘Dragon Flower’ printed on beige linen. These are combined with cushions from Robert Kime mixed in with silk velvet ikats found by Carlos in Istanbul and the family’s own paintings, to make this an especially warm and relaxing room for winter.
Since the dining room faces north west and is used predominantly in the evenings, Carlos had the walls painted in ‘Azurite’, a deep blue from Edward Bulmer Natural Paint, to great effect. He found a large 19th-century Heriz rug on Ebay, and searched online and at auctions for the porcelain imari plates that hang on the walls. At night, with candlelight reflecting off the polished cherrywood and mahogany furniture, the room is magical.
The original kitchen was very basic with old lino flooring. Carlos sourced flagstones from Norfolk Antique & Reclamation Centre and the bastion of timeless kitchen design, Plain English, built – to Carlos’s specifications – an island and a huge number of cabinets to house fridges, washing machines and other ephemera. There is also an enormous Dutch gabled cupboard, echoing the style of so many houses in this area of Norfolk. While the units were painted the same colour as the walls so they would ‘disappear’, the cupboard is in Plain English’s ‘Army Camp’, with a luscious raspberry interior, and the island in its ‘Nicotine’. The kitchen table, which was bought online and has legs in a bold blue, and the Aga splashback’s tiles painted by bespoke tile artist Aviva Halter, which depict the house, the children and their pets, complete the enviable family kitchen.
Upstairs, the main bedroom had only one panelled wall and no coving. It also had one window that was half the size of the other in the room – a problem solved by bringing both curtains up to the ceiling and adding a blind on the smaller one. The walls are in Edward Bulmer’s ‘Celadon’ – a colour the owner initially hated. Somewhat peremptorily, Carlos told her, ‘Wait until the curtains are up and, if you still don’t like it, I promise I will repaint the room at my expense.’ His gamble paid off and she now loves the room with its curtains and valance in an 18th-century print by Nicole Fabre, a Murano glass chandelier – chosen by Carlos ‘so as not to be too imposing’ – 19th-century botanical prints and the owner’s gilt chairs, inherited from her family in France and upholstered by her grandmother. It is the ultimate retreat from daily life. The en-suite bathroom is not large, since the alternative was to break down a wall and lose a bedroom. The result is a small but perfectly formed space, wallpapered in ‘Arbor Day’ by Twigs Fabrics & Wallpaper.
Further bathrooms and bedrooms were added, including a small pink bathroom that was once a cupboard. According to Carlos, he wanted the house to be ‘like a Mahler symphony; not a flat thing, but with surprising pauses and, at the same time, cohesive’. Now panelled and decorated with bird prints, this bathroom – which can be entered through two doors – is one such surprise. Any visitor to this house will discover that, all in all, Carlos has conducted the symphony perfectly.
Carlos Garcia Interiors: carlosgarciainteriors.com
Paul Massey1/11Walls in ‘Azurite’ by Edward Bulmer Natural Paint create an atmospheric backdrop for the owners’ collection of paintings and antique furniture. Curtains (seen opposite) in Robert Kime’s ‘Vendome’ linen pick up on the Heriz rug found on Ebay.
Paul Massey2/11The George II gilt mirror from Graham Smith Antiques is showcased by panelling in Edward Bulmer’s ‘Lute’. A Collier Webb lamp with a shade in antique silk from Robert Kime stands on the 19th-century console table with ball-and-claw feet.
Paul Massey3/11Reclaimed flagstones from Norfolk Antique & Reclamation and Plain English cabinetry are given a modern feel by splashes of colour on the island (Plain English’s ‘Nicotine’), table and door (below).
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Paul Massey6/11The headboard and valance in Nicole Fabre Designs’ ‘Laure’ linen and the 19th-century Turkish kilim runner add pattern and colour to this elegant room.
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Paul Massey8/11‘Sunburst’ wallpaper in terracotta from Robert Kime brightens the upstairs corridor and stairwell. The glass pendant light is from Pooky.
Paul Massey9/11Curtains in ‘Posy Upscaled’ linen from Jet by Whiteworks and Robert Kime’s ‘Attic’ wallpaper set the tone for this charmingly timeless scheme. On the antique bedside table is Robert Kime’s ‘Berwick’ lamp in silvered brass, with a bespoke shade in a Claremont chintz.
Paul Massey10/11Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler’s ‘Seaweed’ wallpaper and fabric in a custom colourway creates an eye-catching effect combined with woodwork in ‘Aquatic’ by Edward Bulmer. The Regency bamboo chair was sourced from Miles Griffiths Antiques.
Paul Massey11/11An avenue of lime trees frames a view of the side of the house.
