bodies and working out ways of restoring the stunning old property in the most empathetic way possible within their already stretched financial situation. With the help of friends, Carl and Rachel began a three-month renovation schedule which included stripping out a 1960s gas fire and its concrete base; replacing a damp and dated 1980s kitchen with new, modern units; turning a cloakroom into a ground floor bathroom; refitting a first floor family bathroom and sanding the parquet floor in the sitting room. They installed new light fittings, decorated throughout and furnished the property with a combination of new pieces and antiques to bring the interior up to date without compromising the character and integrity of the beautiful old building. “There are so many original beams, fireplaces and floors that the character is embedded in the structure of the house, and we didn’t want to overshadow that with too much modern furniture,” says Carl. ‘If I had been left to my own devices I would have filled the whole house with furniture and accessories of the period but, as Rachel quite rightly reminded me, it’s not a theme park.’
Even so, they still agonised over the colour of the sitting room walls before finally choosing
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French Turquoise from Craig and Rose, which took hours to apply as they followed the irregular contours of the ancient posts and beams.
And such attention to detail is evident
throughout the house. When they replaced the rotting bathroom floor with oak boards, for example, they used copper nails to fix it into place, and they also used copper piping to conceal wires so that wall lights could be mounted without having to chase cables into the fabric of the building. “It is important to let an old house like this breathe naturally, so we tried to include as many natural materials as possible in our fixtures, fittings and furniture,” says Carl. They also wanted to incorporate modern details that reflected the property’s Medieval history, hence the choice of modern kitchen floor tiles which resemble a classic Medieval ceiling pattern. Modern Wren units and natural wood worktops have been mixed with copper appliances and rustic shelves from The Farthing. In the sitting room a Carron wood burning stove sits in a fireplace which was occupied by a Sixties gas fire sitting on reinforced concrete when Carl and Rachel bought the house. One of their most exciting discoveries was the ancient Order of the Garter symbol sitting in a
nov/dec 2021
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