A graceful Cotswolds house rebuilt in the traditional local vernacular
Visiting for the first time, you might be forgiven for thinking that this house had stood, hidden away and presiding quietly over its surrounding yew hedges and lawns, for several centuries. You would be wrong; the house and its gardens, in their present form, are only 20 years old, the result of imagination, dedication and attention to detail on the part of the owners, in conjunction with architect Robert Hardwick.
A seventeenth-century house had stood on the site, but it burnt down in 1920, and was replaced three years later by a bland substitute, half the size of the original and with little detailing. This was the house the current owners bought; with little to recommend the building, it was the glorious, far-reaching views of valleys, deciduous woodlands and wild-flower meadows, and the lack of light pollution at night that appealed. That, and its non-listed status-a rare advantage, especially with a house of this size.
Robert Hardwick, an expert in the Cotswolds vernacular, had designed their previous home and so again the owners sought his advice. A larger and lighter house was required; in short, the building was not merely to be extended, but the whole style was to change. Robert began by adding two wings with bay windows at either side of the original three-gabled building. After some discussion, it became clear that the favoured styles were somewhere between Strawberry Hill gothic and traditional Cotswolds vernacular. 'We eventually plumped for the latter,' says the husband, especially since, although we had assumed that the new wings would mirror each other, Robert pointed out that one of the joys of the Cotswolds vernacular was that the design of each could be subtly different, a look we much preferred since it gives the appearance of natural growth and development.'
Pursuing the ‘more light' agenda, Robert then suggested that the ceiling of what was to be the entrance hall should be removed, leaving two windows one above the other which, since the house is essentially one room deep, allowed light into the entire central section. In the end, not one of the original windows remained as they were. We basically built a new house, including all the internal joinery,' says the husband.
The main entrance, which had originally been at the side, was now positioned centrally, which changed the layout of the house radically. A grand living room was added at one end, and the family rooms at the other, with a corridor off the central hall connecting the two areas and bypassing the dining room. This arrangement allows the owners to shut off one part of the house entirely when it is not needed, and live just in the kitchen and family areas.
Once the bones of the house were established, they set to work on the interiors. This was to be a family house, so the owners decided that their bedroom and the children's should overlook the views to the front, while the spare rooms should be at the rear. The main kitchen has an oil-fired Aga, while a further 'back kitchen' allows for preparation and storage. New oak beams and rafters with a limed finish were left exposed in the ceiling of the main kitchen, and one of the walls, which previously formed the end of the original house, now has double doors leading into the new extension. An existing stone chimneypiece, inscribed 'Benedictus Benedicat – the first words of a Latin grace; May the Blessed One bless (this house) - was dismantled and recarved to make a new chimneypiece in the family room next door.
Reclaimed flags were used for the kitchen floors, while in the hall, to add gravitas, a new stone floor was laid. An eighteenth-century over mantel, which the wife found at Christopher Gibbs Antiques, added the necessary height to the chimneypiece in the now double-height space. The dining room, painted red and hung with prints and still lifes, was to be an evening room and slightly clubby in style, to which end the wife found a chimneypiece that had formerly been in the Houses of Parliament. The room looks wonderful by candlelight.
The graceful drawing room, on the other hand, with a magnificent bay window overlooking the garden, is panelled and painted in 'Old White' by Farrow & Ball. With Fortuny-silk curtains-chosen by interior designer Marianne Banbury-antique textiles and paintings, it as light and airy as the dining room is dark. “There was a huge amount of debate as to whether we had made the fireplace too wide, but I was persuaded by Robert to do it and now I think he was right,' says the husband. With two flues, it draws beautifully and completes the feeling of elegance and comfort in the room.
As the house took shape, it became apparent to the owners that the garden was in the wrong place. There had been a perfectly nice garden before, with the land just sloping away from the house,' says the husband, but now it was much larger, the house needed something to sit on.' This had not been in the original plans and presented a daunting task. A series of terraces was created, dropping down to a croquet lawn and from there to the fields below. An army of JCBs descended and the whole place was flattened; then topsoil was brought in and, for five months, everything was left bare. “This was something we had to do, but it was a pretty grim period,' recalls the husband. 'It rained non-stop, so the whole building was surrounded by mud.'
In planning the garden, they decided that the stunning view should be hidden, as they reasoned that if they emphasised the view, no one would look at the garden. A number of yew hedges were planted, creating a series of 'rooms' running along the terrace, from which you emerge out on to the lawn. An oak window has been set in one of the hedges, through which you can see the landscape beyond, or alternatively, can look in at the house and gardens, the two now so completely in harmony with their surroundings that they could indeed have been there for centuries.
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Simon Brown2/19A new corridor runs from one end of the house to the other, behind the dining room.
Simon Brown3/19The sitting room is furnished in a more informal style.
Simon Brown4/19The main kitchen lies beyond it, with its reclaimed stone flags.
Simon Brown5/19The exposed rafters of the kitchen ceiling have a limed finish.
Simon Brown6/19Nineteenth-century Windsor chairs surround a table inherited from the owner's grandmother.
Simon Brown7/19The chimneypiece in the dining room was formerly in the Houses of Parliament.
Simon Brown8/19An arched door from the study (above left) leads out to the garden.
Simon Brown9/19A landing overlooks the double-height hall.
Simon Brown10/19This spare bedroom, with its nineteenth-century canopied bed, faces the rear.
Simon Brown11/19An ogival door connects the main bedroom (below) with an adjoining bathroom; the angle of the beam to the left of the door indicated the arch shape.
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Simon Brown14/19The garden was redesigned to hide the vista beyond.
Simon Brown15/19Yew hedges create a series of 'rooms'.
Simon Brown16/19An oak window allows a glimpse of the view across the valley
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Simon Brown18/19Topiary pyramids frame the back of the house
Simon Brown19/19The new wings, which flank the central block, are deliberately unsymmetrical
