A former seventeenth-century farmhouse, untouched for decades, sensitively reinvented to create a nurturing place to hold Nicola's family and friends.
When first walking through the door, the old space was a captivating wall-to-wall peach carpeted rabbit warren of dark rooms, but with an essence of something special. Gradually the team figured out how they could unravel the building and piece it back together in a way that would suit a family.
Working with architect, Christian Fleming, a single storey timber extension was added in a style inspired by Edwin Lutyens, which meant three rooms could be connected to create an open-plan space as well as a larder.
Usually the decision is made to put the kitchen in the most light-filled room but Ivy House is a good example of how you need to let the building speak to you. In this case, it was decided to move the kitchen to the front of the house so that it would be the heart of the building to create a connection between the people coming and going. The biggest job was reconfiguring the ground floor to make an open-plan kitchen, living and dining room.
Colour was important for creating an atmosphere in the home. A green fresco finish was used in the open-plan area as it connected to the garden and was kind to the low levels of natural light, and the drawing room was painted in Pure & Original’s ‘Old Rose’ pink to pair with pistachio corduroy sofas.
As much as possible was kept from what was inherited, such as some of the previous owner’s curtains, pink loo and sink and various other treasures that took on new life when rearranged to new corners of the house – including the pink, textured tiles from the downstairs cloakroom.
