A 16th century Dorset farmhouse gets a crisp, fresh take on country-house style
this 16th-century Dorset farmhouse asked her to take on its refurbishment, their harmonious working relationship led to impeccable results.
Human nature being what it is, disasters make the best stories. So what is there to say about a covetable family home, on the edge of a Dorset village, spick and span after a major makeover that was as harmonious in progress as it is pleasing in completion? Expect no thrills and spills, no structural horrors no dreadful mistakes, no arguments, no bad feelings. This, it seems, was an enjoyable experience for all involved – from the architect and builders to the interior decorator and, most significantly, for the owners themselves. ‘Everything was done beautifully – and on time,’ says the owner.
The house already had bucket-loads of charm. Home to generations of wealthy gentleman farmers, it dates from the 16th and early 17th centuries. Stocky and solid, with stone mullioned windows under a terracotta sweep of clay-tiled roof, its façade is cloaked in Virginia creeper – glossy green all summer, shading to fiery red in autumn. At right angles to the house is another old stone building, once used as stables, and opposite – forming a loose three-sided courtyard – are wooden barns, now garages. Just behind these are three large stone barns, restored and converted to make accommodation for guests. The sense that this cluster of buildings was once a farm has not been lost and greatly adds to the appeal.
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‘We have a house in London,’ says the owner, whose husband owned and ran a nationwide food purchasing consultancy. ‘But we are both country people and have always spent week-ends and holidays in this area. We rented cottages on big estates then, 20 years ago, we decided to buy and make this part of Dorset our home. About six years ago, our house in London needed a complete makeover, since the children had left home, which is when we were first introduced to Sam. The moment I met her, I knew we sang from the same hymn sheet.’
Sam – interior decorator Samantha Todhunter – agrees, ‘We were in tune from day one. I took her shopping to get a feel of what she liked. She has a very good eye, but she is also happy to be pushed to try new things.’ Hardly surprising that when these clients decided their country house also deserved an upgrade, it was Samantha they chose to help them again.
Top of the owners’ wish-list was more light in the kitchen, and space for a utility room. Architect Martin Llewellyn of Llewellyn Harker Lowe came up with a structural solution for the kitchen by removing a wall separating it from a small back hall and putting in a fully glazed door to the garden, which acts as a third window. He also designed an extension for the back of the house on the footprint of an existing walled courtyard. The kitchen opens on to the dining room, which, in turn, leads into a new utility room, lined with cupboards, with a sink and space for the washing machine that used to be tucked inside a hall cupboard.
Upstairs, a spacious bathroom adjoins the main bedroom. The builders were a local firm, Hammond, based in Sturminster Newton. The owner says, ‘They were brilliant craftsmen and stone masons, but also unfailingly polite and helpful. We really lucked out.’
The extension does more than add two new rooms – the utility room and bathroom above. It also links the office, once a dairy, to the rest of the house through the utility room and makes the most of the far-reaching views of the wide Stour Valley, which stretches down and away from the escarpment on which the house and village are built. This vista of rolling grassland can now be enjoyed by anyone having a leisurely bath, and it can also be spied from the front door through the glazed door of the utility room at the far end of the house.
At the front of the house are two reception rooms on either side of the entrance hall, a larger and more formal drawing room to the left and a cosy panelled sitting room on the right. Here, it is the furnishing and decorating that has had the most impact. ‘We use the drawing room so much more than we used to,’ says the owner. Key to making the room more comfortable was replacing two smaller sofas with one much bigger one, plus armchairs and a decorating scheme of powder pink walls and curtains – a colour picked up in the pretty floral chintz of the cushions. ‘It’s my version of a crisp, fresh take on country-house style,’ says Samantha. ‘I wish I could persuade them to buy a chalet – I’d love to work with them again’.
Samantha Todhunter Design: samanthatodhunter.com | Samantha Todhunter is a member of The List by House & Garden, our essential directory of design professionals. See their profile here.
Simon Brown1/12In the drawing room, ‘Fairhill’ chairs by George Smith in a Tissus d’Hélène chenille contrast with walls in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Setting Plaster’.
Simon Brown2/12Hunting scenes hang on the original 17th-century panelling above a sofa and ottoman upholstered in a Kelly Wearstler mohair, with a bullion fringe by Brunschwig & Fils. The blind, window seat and cushions are in ‘Tendril Vine’ linen by Soane Britain.
Simon Brown3/12In the hall, chairs from Paolo Moschino for Nicholas Haslam are paired with a ‘Scroll Bracket Console’ table and wall lights from Soane Britain.
Simon Brown4/12The kitchen was designed by Samantha and made by local joiners Spiral Interiors, accommodating the original flags.
Simon Brown5/12Pressed flowers and foliage in antique frames are displayed on walls in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Wimborne White’. The chairs are covered in pink leather from Studiotex and the blind is in Bennison’s ‘Reverse Phoenix’.
Simon Brown6/12The half-tester and headboard in the ‘pink room’ are in ‘Paisley Parrot’ from Soane Britain.
Simon Brown7/12Samantha designed the faux-bookshelf doors of the wardrobe made by Spiral Interiors for a spare room.
Simon Brown8/12Soane Britain's ‘Scrolling Fern’ features in another spare room.
Simon Brown9/12‘Vaison’ linen by Nicole Fabre Designs covers a headboard by Samantha in the main bedroom.
Simon Brown10/12An arch links the main bedroom to its new bathroom.
Simon Brown11/12A laburnum arch frames a view of the terrace.
Simon Brown12/12Clipped topiary in the garden.
