At home for Christmas with our former editor Hatta Byng in her Georgian house in Yorkshire
Home for me, until I got married, was wherever my parents lived. But for my husband Charlie, it was a house. A house his grandparents bought in the early 1950s, where his mother had grown up and his parents had lived for around 20 years before, three years ago, they handed it on to us and our young children in time for us to make a life here. And now, having lived here, I can quite see why. There is a beguiling allure to this quietly grand yet liveable Grade II*-listed house, with its high ceilings and Regency detailing, its double-height oval hall and its sweeping cantilever staircase. Built in 1804, Brockfield Hall was designed by Peter Atkinson, a partner of John Carr of York.
When we took the house on, top of our wishlist – after installing new heating, plumbing and wiring – was to rethink the neglected back-of-house areas. We were also keen to reinstate the original flow between the main reception rooms, where doors had been blocked off – presumably to stop draughts – long before Charlie’s grandparents’ time. The narrow main bathroom with its blue suite may have been a brilliant solution in the 1960s, but times change and we were keen to create something befitting the room it adjoined – our bedroom – and to include a shower.
We put all our thoughts in a long document and scribbled on plans as to how they might work, but it was calling in architectural designer Rupert Cunningham of Ben Pentreath that set us on the route to where we are now. Taking a cue from a drawing by Atkinson we found in the North Yorkshire County Record Office, Rupert had the idea to reinstate a wall on Atkinson’s original plan that had presumably been moved to make a housekeeper’s flat, the ground floor of which we were to take back into the main house. In fact, instead of a wall, he designed a handsome, partly glazed panelled screen, which has given us a new boot room on one side and a playroom on the other. We reused an old door from the housekeeper’s flat within the screen and Rupert’s genius is that most people assume it has always been like this.
Moving this wall by a metre opened up a view right from the new boot room, down the main corridor of the east wing of the house, into the main hall and beyond. We removed various doorways from this corridor, reinstating the original arches and the elegance of this wing of the house. Satisfyingly, too, under the lino in the flat’s kitchen, we found York stone. We were able to use this in the corridor, replacing areas where it was just painted concrete.
Our guiding force was to restore the house as much as possible to Atkinson’s original vision, while making it work for us. We were aware that we are just a tiny chapter in its history and hope that much of the work we have done will stay put for the next 200 years. With Rupert, we felt in safe hands when it came to ensuring any tweaks, the removal of Victorian and 20th-century changes, or our own new additions, made sense.
We took a similar approach to the decoration. I have spent my life thinking about rooms and, obviously, as editor of this magazine, I have seen a lot of them. But we really wanted to listen to this house. This is how we chose the paint colours and wallpapers, and from there I chose fabrics for wherever we needed them. I did not agonise: I did not have time to. We just got on with it. And we shall be tweaking for years to come. It is not decorated to the degree of many of the houses we feature in the magazine: some chairs are not yet re-covered; barely a lampshade (or lamp for that matter) is my perfect choice. We predominantly worked with what we already had - be that a table, a cushion or a bath. For a spare bathroom, the marble top to a double basin unit previously downstairs was cut in half and placed on brackets that we found in the attic. A handsome marble basin that sat rather lonely against a wall in the main bedroom now commands the presence it is due in a new downstairs loo (once the sitting room of the flat).
We were fortunate to meet so many talented people along the way. The master decorators Hesp Jones & Co, who helped us with the restoration and redecoration of the main rooms so skilfully. Stuart Gott, who spent weeks restoring a badly damaged early- 19th-century mirror that now hangs above the chimneypiece in the drawing room. Danny Stenhouse laid our kitchen floor – using reclaimed boards salvaged from nearby Kiplin Hall – and tidied up the others. David White, who restored some of the fireplaces, and Serena Wilson, who made our curtains and many of the soft furnishings. And Lucy Hammond Giles of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, who came to my rescue when I was agonising over curtains for the huge bay window in the drawing room. In the end, she helped me with all the fabrics in this room, taking her lead from a discontinued Lee Jofa chintz, of which I had managed to grab the last few metres, and ensuring the scheme had a depth and warmth.
We inherited many of the portraits with the house and Charlie’s father, Simon, has kindly lent us some of his collection of paintings by the Staithes Group artists, who painted on the Yorkshire coast at the turn of the last century. Charlie had been gathering pieces of furniture for years, mostly at auction. He is braver than me and, over time, he has bought some distinctive pieces that make the rooms they inhabit sing. A three-branch light that was once Jasper Conran’s now hangs over our kitchen table. Perhaps the best of all is the tester above our bed, which is early-18th-century Italian and works so perfectly with the wallpaper created for the room by de Gournay. Charlie also found the handsome brass beds in the former nursery, which is now a spare room. This had a lino floor and a toy cupboard made from shutter leaves, which we were able to dismantle and use to restore the shutters round the house.
With two people who both have strong opinions, one of whom prides himself on his ‘innate’ taste (mine is apparently learnt... I shall leave you to judge), there were, of course, disagreements. Charlie likes to hang pictures when I am not around, for obvious reasons. But while it is frustrating, I have to admit that it is what gives our house a sense that we have been living here for years. That it is a family home, not perfectly curated, but built up over a number of decades. And, in most ways, we were aligned. Working on it together was something that brought us great joy.
In fact, Charlie and I met just before Christmas and bonded over our enthusiasm for Christmas decorating (not perhaps an obvious first-date conversation). And this house comes alive at this time of year, when there are people in every room, fires blazing and drinks flowing. Thankfully, Charlie takes charge of lunch on Christmas Day and is chief of the tree decoration. This requires scaffolding and the help of an army of friends to get upright, and it is now an annual event of its own.
Ben Pentreath: benpentreath.co.uk | Brockfield Hall is open for tours at certain times of year, or by prior arrangement: brockfieldhall.co.uk
Christopher Horwood1/19The walls of the dining room (in a dragged finish by Hesp Jones & Co, which echoes their original colour) are the setting for portraits of Charlie’s grandfather Lord Martin Fitzalan Howard, by June Mendoza, and of Lady Hilda Keppel, a cousin.
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Christopher Horwood3/19In the kitchen, a distinctive light that once belonged to Jasper Conran hangs above the ‘Marl’ table in oak by Barny Lee, which is partnered by modern chairs that bring a dash of colour to this space and pick up on the cupboards in the pantry next door. The large teapot by Richard Batterham is a much loved wedding present. A fireplace was reinstated where an Aga stood in Charlie’s parents’ time; Hatta had the idea to line the wall around it with Delft tiles, mostly antique and sourced from Regts in the Netherlands. To the left of this, a cupboard conceals a coffee machine, toaster and drinks’ fridge. The pine floorboards, salvaged from nearby Kiplin Hall, were expertly restored by Danny Stenhouse.
Christopher Horwood4/19Traditional-style cabinets were painted in ‘Dock Blue’ by Little Greene to match an electric Aga from the eR7 series. Delft tiles echo those on the chimney breast wall, with open shelves above displaying a collection of ceramics, including pieces by Astier de Villatte and Burleigh. On the right hangs a collaged etching Whippet & Drapery, 2010, by Carolyn Horton.
Christopher Horwood5/19An old map of North Yorkshire hangs above a sofa in Romo Linara made by The Chairman, that was in the playroom of the family's previous house. The side table is made from discarded Christmas tree trunks, by Fabien Capello. The lamp is from Pooky and the shade by Matilda Goad.
Christopher Horwood6/19In the pantry, a pillar-box-red gloss from Papers and Paints was chosen for the cupboards, which are topped with black granite. ‘Walter’ wall lights from Jamb flank a wooden plate rack that was found in the attic, with vintage pendants from Retrouvius overhead.
Christopher Horwood7/19The newly created wall screen, bench and units in the boot room – all designed by Rupert Cunningham – are painted in ‘Azurite’, set off by walls in ‘Tawny’ – both from Edward Bulmer.
Christopher Horwood8/19A table from Baileys stands on reclaimed parefeuille terracotta tiles from Provence Retrouvée.
Christopher Horwood9/19The walls of the downstairs loo are painted in ‘Mummy’ by Edward Bulmer and hung with all sorts of pictures new and old, many relating to the house or its inhabitants. This is a new room, created from the sitting room of the old flat. Rupert designed the chimneypiece and the york stone flags were found under the carpet. The marble basin came from a corner of the main bedroom. The blind is in ‘Dominica’ from Penny Morrison.
Christopher Horwood10/19Doors and later additions were removed from this passage to open up a vista right through to the boot room at the end. Rupert designed the far archway to mirror the one in the foreground. A vintage bench from Retrouvius stands on York-stone flags repurposed from what was the housekeeper’s flat. Georgina Barclay’s portrait of Charlie’s father, Simon Wood, hangs by the stairs, which are carpeted with a runner from Alternative Flooring. On the right is Simon Elwes’ conversation-piece painting of Charlie’s mother’s family, the Fitzalan Howards.
Christopher Horwood11/19In the main bedroom, De Gournay’s hand-painted ‘Earlham’ chinoiserie wallpaper, in custom colours, tones with new hangings by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler for the 18th-century Italian tester. A chaise longue, re-covered in Le Manach’s ‘Butterfly’ in taupe from Pierre Frey, picks up on an ottoman from The French House, in Bennison Fabrics’ ‘English Oakleaf’ in bright blue.
Christopher Horwood12/19The marble chimneypiece was cleaned and a new grate has replaced a not very pretty 20th century intervention. A series of pots by Kate Semple sit above it and it is flanked by two antique chairs which have slip covers in Amalfi-Carreaux by Le Manach from Pierre Frey, made by The French House.
Christopher Horwood13/19Drummonds’ ‘The Wye’ bath, painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Yellow Ground’, is positioned to enjoy views from the window in this space created from a bathroom and a bedroom, which leads via a new jib door into the bedroom. Walls in ‘Wimborne White’ and woodwork and cornicing in ‘Pale Powder’, both by Farrow & Ball, showcase an Imaginary Cities painting from Udaipur, bought from Joost van den Bergh, which hangs over a previously boarded-up fireplace.
Christopher Horwood14/19All the fittings are from Drummonds and include ‘The Severn’ freestanding shower. ‘We’d had our eye on this design for some time, as we didn’t want to have to start tiling the walls and floor in a room like this. It has a sense of presence,’ explains Hatta.
Christopher Horwood15/19The walls, curtains and valance of the nursery bedroom are in ‘Bowood’ cotton chintz in grey/green, from Colefax and Fowler, creating an enveloping effect and complementing a brass bed, which was created by joining two c1880 singles together.
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Christopher Horwood17/19In the north room the blue block-printed cotton used for a wall hanging behind the bed and a matching valance softens the ‘Maribor’ wallpaper in imperial red, from Susan Deliss.
Christopher Horwood18/19A cupboard with door panels in a pale colourway of the same block-printed cotton contains a bath with a Porta Romana shell wall light; a loo and basin can be found in the adjoining cupboard also in the north room.
Christopher Horwood19/19A view across the frosted garden to the south façade of the house, seen from the field beyond the ha-ha.
