At Home in the Cotswolds: Secrets of English Country House Style

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I challenge anyone to step out onto the terrace and look up without having a sudden, small intake of breath. Although Penelope does spend plenty of time working here, it is very much an open house for their large family, and the couple's five children and their partners are constantly in and out. The couple are both American - Robin originally from North Carolina and Justin from New York - but they met in London, where they were both working. One of the finest contemporary houses set on the prestigious Battledown Estate exemplifying contemporary design, with impressive accommodation set within an idyllic and large landscaped plot overlooking some of the best views within Cheltenham.

The property benefits from a large open plan kitchen / family room and is well presented throughout. The collage on the wall features a leather notebook found in South Africa, which she mounted on an antique Japanese watercolour of a kimono design. With the homes’ idyllic settings, this collection presents inspirational ideals of English country style certain to fascinate and delight.The adjoining, longer wing containing three further bedrooms sits above the large dining room with the kitchen beyond. They were following in the footsteps of the design giant William Morris whose manor house in Kelmscott remains a place of pilgrimage for Arts and Crafts aficionados to this day. Inside we find great open fireplaces and flag stoned floors that date back centuries alongside the wooden fittings and exposed stonework of Bateman’s work. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

It was a romantic notion of emulating Laurie Lee's nostalgic world that sent footwear designer Penelope Chilvers and her husband Steve to look for a house in the country. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.The neutral work space in the study is warmed up by a vintage rug picked up in Spain and an antique leather chair. We also use them to help detect unauthorized access or activity that violate our terms of service, as well as to analyze site traffic and performance for our own site improvement efforts. The featured homes, along with their gardens, were chosen not only for their architectural beauty but for their stunning interiors, which range in style from classical English country retreat to chic contemporary dwelling. A fascinating book showcasing a selection of the most attractive homes (large and small) in the Cotswolds. Luckily I’ve got the room with the best view and I sit at the desk and look out onto the garden and up the hill.

Each property, and the interior design of its rooms, comes with its own unique and intriguing story. Penelope's daughter even got married here, when Covid restrictions prevented a wedding in Spain, and the mismatched blue and white china that dots the house played a starring role at the reception. This design philosophy, which flourished in England in the decades straddling the turn of the twentieth century, advocated traditional craftsmanship that married practicality with artistry, often drawing on medieval and folk styles of decoration.A Pooky lamp and two ceramic Katryn Moye candlesticks found at Tinsmiths stand on top of a Biedermeier cupboard, under an Emma Hardy photograph of Spanish Cowboys bringing rare breed wild houses down from the mountains.

Each house, and the interior design of its rooms, reflects the charm and character of its owners and comes with its own unique and intriguing story. The sofa is covered in jute which Robin concedes is a bit impractical, but she loves the natural texture. In the master bedroom a lovely cloudy effect on the walls is achieved by mixing two paints and brushing over them with a large brush so it ends up looking “like a rhubarb fool”. A period spent in Turkey learning how to make kilim designs for her bags yielded some beautiful finds, such as the suzani-style embroidery bought in Istanbul that now covers a side table. With their distinctive honey-colored stone walls, set amongst rolling hills and beautiful countryside, the decor of these houses expresses inspirational ideals of English country style that readers will love to explore and emulate.

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