Restoration Projects
Decoration
What does it really mean to have a listed house?
If you’re baffled by jargon, regulations and conflicting information, this beginner’s guide to listed properties should help you to make sense of the situation
Restoration Projects
A graceful Cotswolds house rebuilt in the traditional local vernacular
When the owners of this Cotswolds house bought it, it was a bland Twenties reconstruction of a seventeenth-century house that had burnt down. They and their architect set about rebuilding it, reconnecting it with its gardens and wider surroundings
Houses
A characterful 18th-century house on Patmos painstakingly restored to its former charm
Having inherited a derelict merchant's house on the Greek island of Patmos, designer Melina Blaxland-Horne and her husband Dimitri set about salvaging abandoned elements of its period interiors before embarking on a careful and characterful restoration
Country
Vogue contributing editor Robin Muir's eighteenth-century country house in the South Downs (2019)
Once two keepers' cottages, this eighteenth-century, flint-and-brick house was discovered on a visit to the South Downs by the owners, who have transformed it into their ideal weekend home, furnished with salvaged finds and contemporary art. We revisit the house story from 2019.
Houses
A rustic manor house in southern France with layers of sensitive decoration
For interior designer Benji Lewis, happening across this somewhat rundown French house in a favourite village of his provided the opportunity to restore it and retain all its period charm
Country
The late architect Bruno Sacchi's medieval tower in Florence
Jane Sacchi recounts the experience of updating a twelfth-century tower in Italy, originally restored by her architect husband Bruno in the Seventies
Houses by our Top 100 Interior Designers & Architects
A 600-year-old country rectory's disparate array of architectural styles harmonised
In a historic rectory in rural Kent, the architect Ptolemy Dean has brought its disparate array of architectural styles into harmony, enabling decorator Alexis Wylie to create inviting interiors with bohemian touches
Houses
An impressive modern addition which blends seamlessly with Joa Studholme's glorious Somerset house
With the help of architectural studio Bindloss Dawes, the colour curator at Farrow & Ball replaced an ‘unliveable’ structure with a build that is contemporary yet sympathetic to the rural landscape, and which has just won a prestigious RIBA award for architecture in England's south-west
Old houses with contemporary interiors
A ruined medieval castle is brought back to life by an extraordinary modern dwelling
Following centuries of neglect and being gutted by fire, Astley Castle in Warwickshire now offers comfortable accommodation in a modern structure sympathetically inserted inside the medieval and Tudor shell
Scottish houses
A 16th-century Scottish house once visited by Mary Queen of Scots
Lamb's House in Leith has been lovingly restored by the conservation architects Kristin Hannesdottir and Nick Groves-Raines – and part of it is now available to rent on Airbnb.
Houses
A former brewery store in Chiswick converted into an airy, generous house
Designer Looby Crean jumped at the chance to convert a former storage building next door to her house when it became available, and its unusual proportions make for a beautifully expansive interior
Houses
Our most popular house of 2024: a rare and remote 18th-century Carmarthenshire cottage restored to its authentic form
Dorian Bowen’s sensitive restoration of a dilapidated 18th-century hand-built rural farmstead acts as a living testimony to age-old Welsh architecture and simpler times
Houses
Designer John Stefanidis has created a home with a mythic quality on the Greek island of Patmos
To celebrate the publication of his new book John Stefanidis: A Designer's Eye, House & Garden revisits the interior that was the genesis of it all, the home he created on the Greek island of Patmos
Houses
The perfect Georgian country house of Robert Montgomery and Greta Bellamacina
The Kent home of artist Robert Montgomery and poet and actress Greta Bellamacina is a jewel box of candy colours, distinctive antiques and original artworks. The effect is irreverent and original, and provides the perfect setting for their family life and work
Houses
Cassandra Ellis rewrites the story of a converted schoolhouse in Battersea
In a former schoolhouse transformed into artist's lofts decades ago, Cassandra Ellis, founder of natural paint company Atelier Ellis, revitalised the space for family life, all whilst maintaining its original spirit of learning and sharing
Houses
A dream team of designers brings harmony and authenticity to a Tudor house in the Kent countryside
This Wealden hall house in Kent had some unflattering 1920s additions, so the owners assembled a group of experts to restore its late-medieval heart, exposing original structures, swapping cement for lime render, and introducing harmonious furniture and furnishings
Houses
A 17th-century peasants’ cottage sensitively overhauled with attention to historical detail
Antiques dealer Adam Bentley took on the 17th-century stone cottage adjoining his childhood home in West Yorkshire almost 20 years ago, sensitively and thoroughly overhauling it before filling it with an ever-changing mix of pieces
Houses
The serenely elegant country house of the couple behind Our Food Stories
When stylist Nora Eisermann and her photographer wife Laura Muthesius acquired a neglected former schoolhouse in the north German countryside, it took a gut renovation to transform it into the calmly beautiful retreat it now is
Houses
Inside Robert Kime's enchanting family house in Provence, La Gonette
We take a look at the magical atmosphere the late Robert Kime and his wife Helen created at La Gonette, his country house in France
Houses by our Top 100 Interior Designers & Architects
An irresistible Georgian house in a flower-filled valley
Hidden in a Somerset valley, this centuries old house was an irresistible challenge for its owners, who put together a team including architect Ptolemy Dean for the painstaking restoration, which won a Georgian Group award in 2015