A bright and comfortable family home in the heart of Bath where old meets new
In the hallway of this house in Bath hangs an antique photograph; a view across the city taken from the top of a hill. It was a 40th birthday present from the owner to her husband, a gift to stave off homesickness while the couple were living in Sydney, thousands of miles away from his family back in the West Country.
The couple, who met twenty years ago while she was studying in the UK, had moved back to her home country and started a family, with the intention that they would at some point return to England. The coronavirus pandemic proved to be the catalyst; when lockdowns in Australia became so strict that visiting their British relatives became practically impossible, they decided the time had come to relocate their family – two teenage daughters, two dogs and a cat – to Bath.
It was only once they had moved into this house – a golden Georgian terrace in the city’s vernacular style, a stone's throw from the river Avon – that they realised the view in the photograph was the same as the view from the windows. ‘It must have been taken from right outside the house’, says the owner, delighted. It was meant to be.
The couple moved into the house after a year of renting. ‘It was in desperate need of modernisation. Our girls would have walked straight out if they had the choice’, she says. Luckily, having worked as a project manager for the family’s construction company, her husband could immediately see that it had ‘good bones’.
Work started on the house in June 2022, and not ones to accept delays, they made sure it was ready to move in just four months later. By September, the house had reached a ‘liveable’ condition, but she was determined to spend some time there before finalising many of the decorative decisions: ‘I really feel that you need to live in a place first, to get a feel for what will work’, she says.
They had been ‘carting around twenty years worth of stuff’ that they had collected, and were keen for a fresh start. When they moved, they took nothing more than one shipping container worth, which mostly consisted of artworks and one or two pieces of furniture they couldn’t part with. ‘In Australia, our house was very different’, explains one of the owners, of their sunny, contemporary former home on the beach. ‘But we share a taste for very traditional design, and knew this was our opportunity to be bold and give it a slightly modern edge’.
In the sitting room, bright green walls painted in ‘Garden’ by Little Greene are vibrant but still sympathetic to the period of the house. The curtains, in Penny Morrison’s ‘Arabella Red’ fabric with their frilled pelmet are a concession to a more traditional style of decorating, but are balanced by layers of contrasting textiles by contemporary designers: the rug is from Nordic Knots, the lampshades are by Alice Palmer and the armchair is one of the few pieces of furniture that they brought with them from Australia, though now it's adorned with a loose cover made in a pink gingham fabric from Ian Mankin.
In the adjoining dining room, Rapture & Wright’s ‘Albaicin Palm’ wallpaper is a continuation of the ‘green mood’. Far from being overwhelming, the many prints work in harmony here. As the owner maintains: ‘I don’t think there are any rules when it comes to pattern. You need to trust your gut and be confident.’
Half a flight of stairs up, what was once a dingy bathroom has been transformed into a sun-filled, bright yellow reading room, where practically every inch of floor space is filled with inviting sofas. This was the last room the couple decorated, and keen to get it finished, they decided to put up the Colefax & Fowler wallpaper themselves.
There are changes of pace throughout the house. The calm, pale blue main bedroom is ‘more American in design’, as is the large, airy kitchen with its covetable pantry. Sanderson’s ‘Raphael’ wallpaper on one wall adds an element of colourful frivolity.
The owners’ favourite room, and the one most laboured over, however, is the master bathroom. Reminiscent of the grand American bathrooms of Syrie Maugham from the Twenties, it uses a white on white palette; carrara marble basketweave tiles from Ca’Pietra cover the floor, while a huge marble lined bathtub from Porters sits centrally in the room in front of the fireplace. A flowing painted cartouche in soft grey surrounds the window frame – a nod to the 18th-century folly of Cy Twombly’s partner, Nicola Del Roscio, at Gaeta.
At the end of the garden (which the couple designed themselves) is a delightfully quaint guest-house. ‘We had planned for this to be the teenagers’ ‘hang-out’ spot’, they admit. ‘But when a friend in Australia announced they were coming to visit, we had to rethink it’. In just four weeks, the former garage was transformed: terracotta walls and lashings of layered textiles make for a deeply inviting space, and one which any guest should be delighted with.
Now that the house is finished, they talk about it with a mingled sense of relief and excitement. As if they are finally in the right place, and can relax. Already, they have had friends and family to stay and hosted a large summer party. ‘It’s a great feeling when things turn out exactly how you pictured them', they say.
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Owen Gale2/19In the hallway, where natural light is limited, the owners painted the walls in ‘Teresa’s Green’ by Farrow & Ball above the Dado rail, and Dulux’s glossy ‘brilliant white’ along the bottom. This gloss paint continues on the stairs, linking the whole house and bouncing light around. They also added a fun and playful wallpaper border from Parker & Jules above the dado rail.
Owen Gale3/19Walls painted in ‘Garden’ by Little Greene feel both traditional and contemporary. Layers of contrasting textiles make for an eclectic space: the rug is from Nordic Knots, the lampshades are by Alice Palmer and the curtains are in ‘Arabella Red’ by Penny Morrison.
Owen Gale4/19Sara painted the mirror above the fireplace to blend in with the walls. The armchair is one of the few pieces of furniture that Sara brought with her from Australia. She had a loose cover made in a pink gingham fabric from Ian Mankin.
Owen Gale5/19Next door, in the dining room cum study area, Sara chose a bright green wallpaper - ‘Albaicin Palm’ by Rapture & Wright to echo the paint colour next door. The table from Charles Orchard and antique chairs from Lorfords keep the space light and bright.
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Owen Gale7/19Terracotta tiles on the floor of the laundry room makes for a light, Mediterranean, room.
Owen Gale8/19White walls keep this lower-ground kitchen feeling light and airy, while Sanderson’s ‘Raphael’ wallpaper adds an element of colourful frivolity. Designed by Will and Sara and realised by a local kitchen maker, the kitchen is one of the more neutral spaces which takes inspiration from American design.
Owen Gale9/19Off the kitchen is the pantry: it hides all kitchen mess and appliances.
Owen Gale10/19The quartz used for the kitchen worktops also features on the dining table, seamlessly linking the two spaces. Subtle bursts of colour are introduced through artwork and the Mrs Alice plates that hang above the fireplace.
Owen Gale11/19What was once a bathroom is now a bright reading room which is flooded with light.
Owen Gale12/19The wallpaper, from Colefax & Fowler, and woodwork painted in yellow, bring sunlight on even the rainiest of days.
Owen Gale13/19Repurposed radiator grates front the wardrobes in the master bedroom, behind which ‘Blue Ground’ by Farrow & Ball mirrors the textiles throughout the room.
Owen Gale14/19Taking inspiration from grand American bathrooms, though with Italian materials mixed in, the main bathroom is a deeply calming space. The bathtub is from Porters, and the floor is covered in Carrara marble basketweave tiles from Ca’Pietra.
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Owen Gale16/19The walls are painted in ‘Setting Plaster’ by Farrow & Ball, which, Sara says, ‘is a bit of a change of pace, it feels almost like a terracotta’.
Owen Gale17/19The headboard came with them from Australia, and an antique painted chest of drawers was found by Sara at Shepton Mallet Antiques Fair.
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Owen Gale19/19The former garage at the end of the garden has been transformed into a cosy guest house.
