An interior designer’s perfect chocolate-box cottage in the Cotswolds
If it were possible to have a conversation with almost any of the previous inhabitants of this charming cottage in the Cotswolds, they would probably be surprised to learn that such a house could be a serious object of desire. One-up, one-down, with tiny proportions and small windows (and until very recently, no indoor bathroom), this has been a distinctly humble dwelling for its entire 450-year history. But in the 21st century, the imperfections of the cottage are also what constitute its considerable charm, and what may have been inconveniences for earlier generations are now wonderfully romantic. The Grade II-listed house has been fortunate in its latest occupant, the interior designer Victoria Barker of Studio Faeger, who bought it in 2017 and undertook a sympathetic renovation that brought all of its latent desirability to the fore.
The cottage is one of the first to have been built in the small village of Kingham, which is now one of the most covetable areas of the Cotswolds thanks to the nearby train line to London and the proximity to Daylesford and Soho Farmhouse. “I had originally wanted a cottage in London,” she explains, “but I kept looking further and further out until I got out here. When this one popped up I immediately went to see it, offered on it the same day, and was accepted by the evening.” There's no doubt that the cottage was a bit of a project. “All the features of the house had been hidden in the 1970s; the original floor had been covered in sad tiles, there was a false ceiling and the walls were boarded over.” Even 50 years ago, it seems, the appeal of the cottage had not yet become universal.
Victoria set about restoring the interior architecture, taking down the boards to reveal the beautiful beams and the lath and plaster walls upstairs, treating the ubiquitous woodworm, and replacing the smashed up old floor with reclaimed pamment tiles. The house needed to function as both a weekend retreat for Victoria, her boyfriend, and Otty the Vizsla, but also a holiday rental, so it was absolutely necessary to create more space. A small extension at the back of the cottage now houses the compact kitchen and a bathroom with a shower (no more walking to the loo outside on cold winter evenings). The first floor, an attic room which was in effect already split into two by the beams that hold up the roof, was officially divided into two bedrooms. Amazingly, the whole project only took seven weeks.
The quirks, of course, have not been completely ironed out, but they don't really need to be. In the kitchen, for example, there is the disadvantage that its size only really allows for three units. But by extending the storage to the walls and ceiling with plate racks and hooks for hanging baskets, Victoria has found a practical solution that also adds to the cottagey feel of the space. “I actually find it quite convenient in some ways,” she reflects. “When you’re loading the dishwasher, you really don't have to move at all.” More challenging is the existence of only one built-in cupboard in the entire rest of the house, in the main bedroom. “Clothes storage is a nightmare,” she admits ruefully.
“Classic English style, but keep it simple,” is how Victoria describes her aesthetic, and the interiors are certainly in keeping with the pretty, traditional exterior, with its honey-coloured Cotswold stone and thatched roof. For the downstairs, she chose Farrow & Ball's much-loved ‘Setting Plaster’ for the walls, which imparts a soft warmth to the space and works in the low light. Key pieces of furniture, including the sofa and the two beds upstairs, were designed by Victoria especially for the space, although even then she had to take the front door off to get the sofa inside. A mixture of vintage and Ebay finds and inherited pieces make up the rest of the space, including the glorious chintz armchair and ottoman that Victoria found ready-upholstered.
The cottage is an idyllic spot in both winter and summer. In the warmer months, there is a tiny garden on the other side of the path, where a pretty table and chairs allows for eating in the sun, and fruit and vegetables spill out of the beds. In winter, the vast inglenook fireplace, squashy chairs and piles of cushions beckon. You may have to be prepared to bump your head a few times, but it's a price well worth paying for cottage heaven.
studiofaeger.com | Victoria’s cottage is available to rent on Airbnb.
Tom Griffiths1/12The folk art painting is from Studio HAM. “It reminds me of joyful childhood days growing up on a farm in the Lake District,” says Victoria. The lampshades are in 36 Bourne Street's ‘Little F’ linen in 'tutti', and the plates are “a mixture of antique hand painted Portuguese ceramics picked up from a flea market and late night Ebay winnings." The leaf table is an antique Swedish work table, inherited from Victoria's grandparents, and the ceramic chicken has been handed down through the family as the kitchen egg store, but is now used to house keys by the front door.
Tom Griffiths2/12“This chair is the first thing I bought for the cottage before I went ahead with the purchase,” says Victoria. “It was another flea market find and has a purposely relaxed, loose fitting removable cover in a plain washed linen. It spends most of its time in the washing machine as this is ‘Ottie’s chair’. I try not to be too protective over all of the soft furnishings so everything has been practically designed for muddy paws and feet-up comfort.” The cushions are from Projektityyny & Liberty.
Tom Griffiths3/12At the back of the sitting room, a small dining area creates a transition into the kitchen. The tablecloth is a hand-woven Mexican linen from Cutter Brooks. The chairs are a set of antique oak dining chairs from a local country house clearance, with seats re-covered in Merchant & Mills' ‘Garden Party Olive’ gingham linen.
Tom Griffiths4/12The kitchen is from British Standard, painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Pointing’. Storage is limited so it is very much an open kitchen, with baskets hanging from the ceiling, a wall-hung plate rack, shelving and hooks to house placemats and an antique cabinet housing home-grown dried herbs from the garden. The plate rack is from Rowen & Wren and features a set of antique plates collected from a charity shop on a recent trip of Victoria's to Cornwall. The scallop edge plates are by the Italian chef Violante Guerrieri Gonzaga.
Tom Griffiths5/12Victoria at the dining table.
Tom Griffiths6/12The dining table viewed from the stairs. The pendant is from Straw London, and the dining table was a £6 Ebay find, which Victoria painted in a durable floor paint.
Tom Griffiths7/12The wallpaper in this bedroom is by Molly Mahon, and the bed was designed to sit beneath the beams, with an upholstered headboard and frame again in 36 Bourne Street's ‘Little F’ linen in ‘Tutti’.
Tom Griffiths8/12The main bedroom is particularly dark with a very tiny window under the thatch, so Victoria took advantage of the lack of light and chose a deeper paint colour with a natural pigment, Pure & Original's ‘Somerset Mauve’. The rug is an antique needle point kilim with a tulip motif, and the quilt is a ticking mattress cover from Cloth House.
Tom Griffiths9/12Victoria and Ottie by the front door.
Tom Griffiths11/12On the other side of the path from the cottage is this small courtyard garden, which features a lattice garden furniture set from Woodside Garden Centre in Norfolk. The striped pink parasol is from Business & Pleasure, while the pink gingham cushions are by Mrs Alice.
Tom Griffiths12/12
