The English Home November/December 2020 - US Edition

ENGLISH HOME The

Celebrating the essence of English style

DECK THE HALLS Decorating to create a magical mood

SEASONAL SPARKLE Flowers & foliage adorning a ďŹ replace

ELEGANT DINING Delicious recipes, cocktails & table settings

FESTIVE FLAIR Professional advice for welcoming guests

COSY CHRISTMAS

Five beautiful homes dressed for comfort & joy

December 2020

U.S./CAN $8.99

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CONTENTS DECEMBER 2020

44 80

PHOTOGRAPHS (ABOVE LEFT) © ANDREAS VON EINSIEDEL; (TOP RIGHT) © BRENT DARBY; (ABOVE RIGHT) © BEN QUINTON

26 Beautiful Buys

Quintessentially

6

71 ALL THINGS NICE Delicious edible decorations.

CHRISTMAS HOME COMFORTS Our pick of enticing homeware for seasonal cheer.

12 FESTIVE TABLE Delightfully inspiring dining details.

14 MAKE IT MAGICAL Festive design buys for children.

English Homes 16 SUMPTUOUS CELEBRATIONS Designer Joanna

Wood’s inviting Gloucestershire manor house.

26 THE HOLLY AND THE IVY Interior designer

Christopher Vane Percy’s Huntingdonshire home.

36 COUNTRY CHRISTMAS A Grade II listed former

rectory in Rutland offers a welcoming atmopshere.

44 CULTURAL AFFINITY A moated property in Essex is transformed into a chic family home.

52 VIBRANT CHARACTER Vivid colours and bohemian style meet in a West Sussex Georgian house.

Style Inspiration 61 FEAST FOR THE EYES Dining room inspiration.

62 CREATE A WONDROUS SETTING Designer Susie

Watson’s guide to Christmas decorating.

72 FROM PATCH TO PLATE Food columnist Matthew

Fort on the delights of the season.

74 FESTIVE ENTERTAINING Stylish ideas for cocktail

parties and cosy suppers.

80 THE SEASONAL HOME: CHRISTMAS Use natural

materials to dress the home for the festive season.

90 HOUSES WITH CHARACTER Properties fit for gatherings and celebrations.

95 THE ART OF CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS Mrs M on old traditions and new beginnings.

98 ONE FINAL THING... Festive styling tips.

Regulars 4

A LETTER FROM HOME A warm welcome from

our Editor.

35 SUBSCRIBE Delight loved ones with a subscription

ENGLISH HOME The

Celebrating the essence of English style

DECK THE HALLS Decorating to create a magical mood

to The English Home.

SEASONAL SPARKLE Flowers & foliage adorning a fireplace

70 READER TRAVEL OFFER A tailor-made luxury

trip to visit Britain.

88 BRITAIN CALENDAR Enjoy the delights of Britain

year-round.

97 ADDRESS BOOK Useful contact details.

FESTIVE FLAIR Professional advice for welcoming guests

ELEGANT DINING Delicious recipes, cocktails & table settings

COSY CHRISTMAS

Five beautiful homes dressed for comfort & joy

TEH US NOV_DEC 20 Cover final.indd 1

COVER IMAGE: © RACHAEL SMITH

December 2020

U.S./CAN $8.99

25/08/2020 15:39

THE ENGLISH HOME 3

WRITE TO US AT

The English Home, Cumberland House, Oriel Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 1BB, UK Tel +44 (0)333 014 3215 Email: theenglishhome@chelseamagazines.com

We are looking forward to giving Christmas this year the personal touch and have been admiring these home-made gift tags using Annie Sloan paint.

For more ideas turn to page 80.

www.theenglishhome.co.uk EDITORIAL

Editor Samantha Scott-Jeffries Managing Editor Sarah Feeley Art Editors Claire Hicks, Rebecca Stead Sub Editor Lea Tacey Decorating Editor Katy Mclean Features Editor Eve Middleton Homes & Lifestyle Editor Clair Wayman Editor-at-Large Kate Freud

C

hristmas is set to feel very special this year. A merry celebration to mark the passing of a challenging 2020 for many, and perhaps a renewed appreciation of simply spending time with loved ones.

This festive issue is designed to help you to make the most of – and savour – every moment of the festive season.

As preparation is key, and can be a hugely enjoyable part of the anticipation of Christmas, we have gleaned ideas and advice from interior furnishings designer Susie Watson on how to decorate our homes to ensure they feel cosy and special (page 62). Meanwhile, interior designers Joanna Wood and Christopher Vane Percy welcome us into their festively dressed homes (page 16 and 26) and offer their professional advice on how best to create and add the finishing touches (pages 25 and 34).

For those feeling creative, we offer ideas for using seasonal foliage and beries to create natural displays and decorations in the festive instalment of the The Seasonal Home (page 80) and a simple but effective idea for a delicious homemade gift which is sure to delight the recipient (page 71).

No English home is complete without an abundance of Christmas dishes to adorn the festive dining table and share.

Our feature on festive entertaining (page 74) offers ideas for both relaxed, heartwarming suppers and elegant entertaining, whilst Matthew Fort opens our eyes to a mouthwatering alternative to the traditional figgy pudding (page72).

I do hope you enjoy all these treats and wish you a very Happy Christmas from everyone on The English Home team.

Samantha Scott-Jeffries, Editor

Head of Market Freddy Halliday +44 (0)20 7349 3744; freddy.halliday@chelseamagazines.com Partnerships Director Lyndal Beeton +44 (0)20 7349 3741; lyndal.beeton@chelseamagazines.com Advertisement Manager William Bernard +44 (0)20 7349 3749; william.bernard@chelseamagazines.com Advertisement Account Executive Madeleine Burgess +44 (0)20 7349 3711; madeleine.burgess@chelseamagazines.com

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© The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2020. All rights reserved. Text and pictures are copyright restricted and must not be reproduced without permission of the publishers. The information in The English Home has been published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. However, where appropriate, you are advised to check prices, opening times and dates, etc, before making final arrangements. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or damage caused by reliance on the information within this publication is hereby excluded. The opinions expressed by the contributors of The English Home are not necessarily those of the publisher. www.chelseamagazines.com: Publisher of Artists & Illustrators, Baby, BRITAIN, Classic Boat, Cruise International, Discover Britain, The English Garden, Independent School Parent and associated Guides, Little London, Popshot, Racecar Engineering, Sailing Today, Scotland Magazine, Yachts & Yachting and Wedding Ideas.

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HOME

Prepare the home and revel in the joys of the season with our selection of festive buys

A restful seat Jewel tones and rich textures add a wonderfully festive touch to the home come the winter months. This inviting sofa in wine-red velvet provides a sumptuous spot to sink into, be it curled up with a book for a silent night in, or for exchanging gifts with family and friends.

Humphrey two-seater sofa in Claret cotton matt velvet, ÂŁ2,440, sofa.com

6 THE ENGLISH HOME

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Waiting for Santa Inspired by a move to the countryside, the pretty patterns of the stockings and cushion set the scene beautifully for the arrival of Father Christmas.

A monogramming service will be available in time for Christmas, with further details to be released online.

Scallop Stripe stockings, £46 each; Little Cress cushion, from £70, all Tori Murphy Candlelit magic Cast a soft glow over proceedings with selective placement of pillar candles in a cheering red hue. (NB Never leave lit candles unattended.)

Red Pillar Candles, from £4.50, Nordic House Season’s greetings Sustainably made with a moss base and a combination of foliage including eucalyptus, rosehips, and fir cones amongst others, this stylish wreath welcomes visitors with scent, colour and charm aplenty.

Berry, Herb and Foliage Christmas Wreath, £95, The Real Flower Company



Chimneypieces | Lighting | Furniture 020 7730 2122 | jamb.co.uk

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Striding out Little is as reviving come winter as a bracing walk in the crisp fresh air. Be sure to keep hands warm with a pair of charming knitted mittens.

Lambswool Mittens in Black, £38, Rowen & Wren All wrapped up Opting for fabric in lieu of paper makes gifting all the more thoughtful – hem the edges of one of these charming cotton print designs prior to wrapping, and they can be used time and again as napkins or teatowels.

Clockwise from top left: Apres Ski Snow; Alpine Twilight; Pine Forest Fern; Bauble Twilight; Little Star Twilight; Little Star Neptune; Little Star Cloud, allfrom £17.40 a metre, all Prestigious Textiles Keeping cosy The chill of winter is often best kept at bay with a cosy woollen blanket. Made from 100 per cent pure new wool and designed and made in England, this one neatly fits the bill.

New Wool Throw in Sage Green, £60, Tom Lane Setting the scene Creating a chic tablescape is a pleasure at this time of year – select hand-stamped linens and elegant accessories to add a smart note to proceedings.

Ivory & Gold Floral Italian hand-stamped linen tablecloth, from £249, and napkins, £22 each; table accessories, from £14 for Rattan Charger in Rustic White, all Rebecca Udall

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THE ENGLISH HOME 9

FEATURE EVE MIDDLETON PHOTOGRAPHS P7 (TORI MURPHY) © CHARLOTTE BLAND; P9 (TOM LANE) © OLIVIA BOSSERT; P10 (HUNTSMAN) © NICK TYDEMAN; (NANCY & BETTY STUDIO) © YASHEN VENEMA

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE Cocktail hour Elegant patterned glasses add a further sense of occasion to the allure of an aperitif. Try adorning with fresh edible flowers for a pretty touch.

Pulcinella cocktail glasses, £80 for a set of four, Oka Games night Whether used for games with friends or for a reflective round of solitaire, this twin deck of playing cards from Savile Row tailor Huntsman, in a case made from the house tweed, is a smart addition to the festivities.

Playing Cards, £100, Huntsman A cracking time Dressing the table is made all the more fun with the addition of crackers that are sure to appeal to young and old alike. Designed and handmade in Kent, this recyclable, eco-friendly set also sees the company pledge a tree planted for every box bought.

North Pole luxury Christmas crackers, £36 for six, Nancy & Betty Studio n

10 THE ENGLISH HOME

WESTLAND LONDON SPECIALISTS IN ANTIQUE FIREPLACES & FINE ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUES SINCE 1969

An exceptionally rare Portland stone chimneypiece, circa 1790, designed by Robert Adam for Dalquharran Castle in Scotland.

295 WILLESDEN LANE, LONDON, NW2 5HY TUBE: WILLESDEN GREEN (JUBILEE LINE)

www.westlandlondon.com

TEL: +44 (0) 207 739 8094 e-mail: westland@westlandlondon.com

Hanging Wreath (70 cm diameter) £50; Baubles, £10 each, Garden Trading

Luxury tartan crackers, £36 for six, Nancy and Betty

FESTIVE TABLE For a traditional tablescape take inspiration from nature, adopting a palette of berry reds and winter-solstice greens, and add a twist with dashes of ice blue and chartreuse green. For a fully layered effect, gently punctuate the Christmas table with texture and pattern – from bamboo cutlery to striped linen, cabbage-leaf china and tartan crackers. Ensure that the table twinkles with sparkling glassware and decorate with fresh seasonal foliage such as fir, holly, sea thistles and eucalyptus.

Four-piece bamboo cutlery set, £70, Rebecca Udall

Christmas Placemats, £39 for a set of six, Braided Rug Company

Pulcinella large wine glasses, £70 for a set of four, Oka

Mirabelle dining chair in chartreuse, £495, India Jane

Brush tree napkin ring, £5.50 for a set of four, CoxandCox.co.uk

Cabbage dinner plate, £15, Amara Coloured-rim Glass Tumblers, £49.50 for a set of six, Birdie Fortescue

12 THE ENGLISH HOME

FEATURE CHARIS WHITE

Maxime blue linen-look tablecloth made from 100% recycled bottles, from £65; Toulouse napkins £20 for four; Antibes cushions, £30, all Weaver Green

THE FINEST GLASSHOUSES MONEY CAN BUY

Bespoke Glasshouse, Hampshire, UK

Discover the secret of Hartley Botanic by calling 781 933 1993 or visit www.hartley-botanic.com

HANDMADE IN ENGLAND CHERISHED IN AMERICA The only aluminium Glasshouses and Greenhouses endorsed by the RHS © The Royal Horticultural Society 2020. Endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society. Registered Charity No 222879/SC038262 rhs.org.uk

Red Christmas Paper Chain Kit, £3.75, Altered Chic, Not On The High Street.com

Scandinavian Tapestry Kit Tree Decoration, £16, John Lewis

Little Robin wallpaper, £110 a roll, Bear & Beau Felt Christmas Stocking, £15, Garden Trading

MAKE IT MAGICAL Get children involved with some magical decorating ideas for their bedroom this Christmas. With inspiration from nostalgic, Swedish Gustavian style, add interior design touches from Christmas past. Update a classic scheme of red, green and blues with Christmas bed linen, a wall hanging and fairy lights. Share the excitement of creating decorations by making paper chains, using stamp and easy needlepoint kits and rediscover the joy of the pantomime with a flat-pack production of Cinderella.

Cinderella Pantomime Kit, £20, Benjamin Pollock’s Toy Shop

Wood Deer Head & Tree Garland, £7.49, Gisela Graham Mini pompom basket, £20, Postcards Home

Christmas At The Warren, £10, National Trust

Star Stamp, £9.40; Four Dot Stamp, £4.86, both Cambridge Imprint

Indoor/outdoor pre-lit tree, £145, Cox & Cox 14 THE ENGLISH HOME

FEATURE CHARIS WHITE PHOTOGRAPH (BEAU & BEAR) © EDDIE MACDONALD

Mattias Nordic Single Bed, £1,020, Sweetpea & Willow

Sumptuous CELEBRATIONS Interior designer Joanna Wood’s cosy and inviting Gloucestershire manor house really comes alive at Christmas, when family and friends gather together to soak up the festive atmosphere FEATURE CLAIR WAYMAN PHOTOGRAPHY RACHAEL SMITH

16 THE ENGLISH HOME

The study walls are painted in Very Well Red by Paint & Paper Library. A painting of Joanna when she was young by Susan Ryder takes centre stage above the mantelpiece flanked by a pair of 1930s Marshall Phillips brass wall lights. The warm tones of the Oka lampshades echo those of the Lawson Wood wingback chair, which is upholstered in Claremont’s Matelas de Laine.

The seat of the Acres Farm fender is covered in rich red goatskin leather by Soane Britain.

THE ENGLISH HOME 17

C

hristmas is a lavish affair at interior designer Joanna Wood’s country home in the Cotswolds. The family descends on Fyfield Manor for festive frivolity and indulgence. Roaring fires, glowing candlelight, a glistening Christmas tree and mantelpieces festooned with foliage set the scene. It is a magical time when Joanna, her husband Charles, plus daughters Hattie and Leonora can celebrate together. “On Christmas Day we watch the Queen’s Speech and have smoked salmon with champagne cocktails – which are delicious and lethal! Then, just as dusk falls, Christmas lunch starts, continuing long into the evening,” she says.

During the festive period Joanna invites friends over for informal lunches and gatherings and the house really comes in to its own. “Circulation of the rooms works very well. There are lots of areas where people can sit and chat,” she says. Guests often comment on Fyfield Manor’s welcoming atmosphere, which is what first attracted Joanna to the property back in 2014.

“My daughter Hattie and I walked in and didn’t get further than the drawing room. We fell in love immediately,” she explains. “We both said ‘we’ve got 18 THE ENGLISH HOME

ABOVE The Lawson Wood sofa in the drawing room came from Joanna’s previous house and has been recovered in a pretty Jean Monro Hemingford chintz with jumbosized bullion fringing dyed to match. A pair of bespoke mirrors, with antique glass in modern gilded frames, hang either side of the original hand-carved pine fireplace.

RIGHT Joanna stands under the shell porch with her beloved Meath Terrier, Gypsy.

A pair of Albemarle lanterns by Phillips & Wood flank the door which leads into the drawing room.

The Aubusson rug from Dominic Everest was the inspiration for the subtle colour scheme in the drawing room, whilst the inherited early eighteen-century portrait provides an elegant focal point. The comfortable, square-backed Gainsborough chair has been recovered in Fortuny’s Sevigne fabric from Claremont, and the black coffee table was made to incorporate a papier-mâché tray which Joanna inherited from her grandmother.

THE ENGLISH HOME 19

‘You could be here all on your own on a cold, dark, windy night and feel the house is looking after you’

ABOVE The lateeighteenth-century dining chairs, from Eton Antiques, feature William Yeoward striped fabric on the seat pads to echo the delicate tones in the rug from C John.

A seascape inherited from Joanna’s grandfather hangs above the fireplace from Jamb.

ABOVE The impressive facade was built in 1720 and was originally the front of the house.

to live here because it has such a warm feel’. You could be here all on your own on a cold, dark, windy night and feel the house is looking after you. It has a very kind spirit. It’s not grand, but it’s very cosy.”

The elegant Grade II listed property, with its decorative facade made from local Ashlar limestone, was once quite an ordinary farmhouse. “We think there has been a farm at Fyfield Manor since Roman times, because we uncovered a Roman well and medieval bridge at the bottom of the field,” Joanna explains. “In the early 1700s, a farmer living in the farmhouse obviously did terribly well and made a great deal of money. In 1720 he employed an architect called Joseph Small to add the very pretty Queen Anne facade, with the shell porch and ball finials to create a grand impression.” The farmer also added a large entrance hall with a parlour on either side and a piano nobile on the first floor where he would entertain guests and survey his land. The hall is now a spacious drawing room, whilst the piano nobile is now home to Joanna’s bedroom.

20 THE ENGLISH HOME

When Joanna first came to view the house, it was very dated but that did not deter her. “It hadn’t been touched since the 1950s,” she says. “But that wasn’t important because I knew I was going to gut it and reorganise the spaces, as we live in a different world now.” The original tiny kitchen has been turned into a utility room and Joanna has created a double-height kitchen and dining area in the former dairy. “The original kitchen wasn’t nearly big enough for family living and, if I’m cooking, I like to chat to people. The kitchen is the hub of the house.”

Getting planning permission took a year, and the renovation project took another year to restore the house back to its former glory. “When we scratched the surface the house was riddled with damp and dry rot and just held together with a few coats of paint. My husband couldn’t bear to look because it was literally a construction site. He didn’t visit the house for a year.”

Having had her own interior architecture and design practice for 30 years meant that Joanna knew only too well what an enormous project she had taken on, but 

To accentuate the ceiling height Joanna has created a display of antique dessert plates. The subdued green tones in the Monte Cristo granite worktop from Mander & Germain blends with the island, which is painted in Brompton Road by Mylands.

The striking Vertigo pendant light, designed by Constance Guisset for Petite Friture, adds a contemporary touch to the Kutchenhaus kitchen. The Buscot limestone flooring is

by Artisans of Devizes.

ABOVE A graceful headboard by Lawson Wood and curtains in Lewis & Wood’s Indienne bring an understated glamour to Joanna’s bedroom. The walls are covered in silk by Loro Piana and the George III bench from Eton Antiques is upholstered in Murillo, a classic Fortuny fabric

by Claremont.

RIGHT An oil painting bought in Russia many years ago hangs over an antique mahogany chest bought from Blanchard Collective.

she surrounded herself with experts in their field, including Johnston Cave architects. “I knew who to ask for things like the oak floors, the restoration of the cornices and woodwork,” she says. “I tried to use local craftsmen as far as possible, and specialist decorators came down from London. As this house is Grade II listed, the historical detailing is terribly important.”

Although Joanna managed to save some sections of original elm flooring upstairs, she mostly replaced old fitted carpet with random-plank English oak.

“I wanted the floor to look like it would have done originally,” she says. “Random planks are more authentic because cuts from the whole tree are used.

If you slice a tree through the middle and then cut to the outside, you’re getting smaller and smaller planks with the wider ones in the middle.”

Wherever possible, when it came to furnishing the house, Joanna used favourite pieces that have been with her for a long time. “I’m a great believer in buying good-quality furniture, using it and reusing it in different ways, and seeing if certain pieces can be recovered, adjusted or altered. I like doing that for 

22 THE ENGLISH HOME

The smart nickel vanity unit in the en-suite bathroom was designed

by Joanna, and has wide drawers but does not take up too much floor space. The bevelled mirror, from Joanna Wood’s shop, is paired with slim wall lights by Phillips & Wood. The Indienne wallpaper is by Lewis & Wood and the Calacatta Vagli marble floor is by Mander & Germain.

THE ENGLISH HOME 23

‘Comfort is a very important part of my decorating ethic, but I still like people to walk in and say: “Gosh, this is lovely!”’ clients too, rather than this terrible consumer society that we have been living in, but I’m glad to see that people are now beginning to rethink.”

When choosing a colour palette for the drawing room Joanna was inspired by the delicate pink tones in her exquisite Aubusson rug and found the perfect, complementary Jean Monro floral fabric to cover one of the sofas. “When I’m designing a house, I like to think about colour moving from light to dark, to create drama and contrast,” she says. “I also like going from texture to texture. I have chosen a tactile suede on the walls in the dining room, which is also good acoustically. I think if you stick to all paint or all paper, you lose the drama.”

Colour plays a big part in Joanna’s schemes, in a subtle way. “I don’t want to be bullied by colour – I prefer to manage it,” she explains. “My bedroom is soft and muted, but there are lots of different shades there, 24 THE ENGLISH HOME

if you look at all the various layers. I am certainly not afraid of using colour and love an accent flash.”

Another key factor for Joanna is comfort. “Comfort is a very important part of my decorating ethic, but I still like people to walk in and say: ‘Gosh this is lovely!’

It’s more about building and putting things together, rather than having hero pieces. The main thing is that spaces flow from one into another and everything fits together like a jigsaw puzzle.”

The renovation of Fyfield Manor has been quite a journey for Joanna and husband Charles.

“The house has been pulled apart, reconfigured and carefully put back together, so it looks and feels as though nothing has been done,” she says. “It feels utterly authentic. It’s incredibly important that nothing looks brand new, or jars. Now the house is finished, the thing I’m most pleased about is the atmosphere. Everyone feels very happy here.”

ABOVE Daughter Hattie’s bedroom and en suite were once three poky rooms. The ceiling now goes up into the eaves, creating a sense of height.

Joanna found the bench in a junk shop when visiting a friend and had it restored and reupholstered in a Colefax and Fowler fabric. The antique brass bed is from Divine Dreams. The Christmas stockings are Joanna Wood.

JOANNA WOOD

FESTIVE FLAIR

Artfully arranged garlands and a beautifully layered tree create a warm welcome at Fyfield Manor

FEATURE CLAIR WAYMAN

When decorating the tree, how do you combine colour, texture and lights?

I always use warm white lights, which create a soft golden glow. This Christmas I’ve used a traditional palette of silver, light gold and rich red with some copper tones to create depth. To draw the eye up, I’ve tied lots of faux red flowers and ribbon underneath the gold tree topper. I always attach decorations to the tops of branches, as well as hanging them, for a fuller look.

All sorts of things can go on the top of branches. There’s nothing like a few home-made, natural decorations to add texture. I often use fir cones, nuts, dried flowers and sprayed greenery mixed with contrasting, colourful, glass baubles in various sizes and shapes. The trick is to use florists’ wire to fix everything on.

Do you bring out treasured vintage tree decorations every year?

My family love the seeing vintage tree decorations that we’ve had since my girls were little. I’ve got some wacky Father Christmases that we bought for Hattie and Leonora when they were children, which bring back happy memories and make us all nostalgic.

How do you make the tree personal?

I have suitcases and boxes full of carefully wrapped Christmas decorations, and every year I collect a few more good quality

decorations. Having this collection means I can change the look a little bit each Christmas. I might decide that I’m going to go for a traditional Victorian theme, or there was one stage when I went through a more modern clear-glass-andsilver period. Building up a collection over time is the key to creating a special look.

I enjoy combining all my vintage and newer decorations together on the tree.

Sticking to a simple colour palette is key, because colour ties it all together.

Do you like the idea of giving tree decorations as gifts?

I’ve been given beautiful tree decorations over the years. I have a few from Lalique, and some Kenyan pieces, given to me by a friend who knows I like collecting. When I visit friends before Christmas, instead of taking a box of chocolates, I’ll take a little bauble with me as a pressie. Some baubles are works of art, and they can be a real talking point.

What is your favourite gift-wrap style?

I’ve become more eco-conscious over the years, so I like to incorporate natural materials, and I try to avoid wrapping paper with lots of sparkle. I mix and match; I might combine hessian ribbon with a fun printed paper, or simple brown wrapping paper with wonderful, elaborate ribbon, as a complete contrast.

How do you decorate the mantelpiece at Christmas?

Decorating the tops of mantelpieces or shelves can be incredibly effective, especially when you add candles to create a glow. On my dining room mantelpiece, I use ivy picked from my garden to create a loose display, with a mass of scented tea lights, so the room smells delicious. In the drawing room, I’ve gone for a rich goldand-green theme, mixing faux and natural elements, including gold leaves, fresh mistletoe, branches of fir with white cyclamen plants in red glass vessels.

Do you have any tips for making garlands?

You can make a garland quite easily with just a piece of string or ribbon and tie the greenery on to it. The other trick is to buy a very simple faux-fir garland as a base and then mix fresh greenery in, which is what I’ve done in my red study. Artificial fir garlands are available at every florist and very reasonable. I start by sticking the artificial garland to the mantelpiece and tying in the fresh ivy, faux maple leaves, fir cones, gold baubles and little flocked animals using florists’ wire. Everyone thinks it’s 100 per cent fresh. It’s a great trick and hugely time-saving. n To see Joanna Wood’s interior design projects and to view her online shop, selling luxury home accessories, visit joannawood.com THE ENGLISH HOME 25

The circular table in the entrance hall is laid for tea by candlelight in front of the fire, where a dramatic canopy of foliage graces the original carved stone fireplace.

The paisley wool throw on the table is from Oka. The painting, which Christopher inherited from his grandmother, depicts an eighteenth-century gentleman.

26 THE ENGLISH HOME

The holly AND THE IVY Interior designer Christopher Vane Percy creates an elaborate backdrop, combining foliage with baubles and candlelight, for magical Christmas celebrations FEATURE AMANDA HARLING PHOTOGRAPHY ANDREAS VON EINSIEDEL

THE ENGLISH HOME 27

The Christmas tree stands at the foot of the grand oak staircase in the stone-flagged entrance hall. The columns have a theatrical lapis lazuli finish whilst the walls are painted eau de Nil, replicating the original colour, discovered by taking paint scrapes.

The staircase predates the mideighteenth-century house and most likely came from a house nearby. The jute stair-runner was hand-stencilled

by Colleen Bery.

28 THE ENGLISH HOME 28 THE ENGLISH HOME



F

or Christopher Vane Percy, assembling the elaborate Christmas decorations which adorn Island Hall, his eighteenth-century Grade II* listed home, is a labour of love. “I start with the tree that stands at the foot of the grand staircase in the hall,” he says. “I always buy from the same grower because they deliver and help manoeuvre it into position. Generally, I chop off a bit at both ends so that it fits beneath the 14ft ceiling – the off-cut branches are useful for filling in any gaps.”

Each year Christopher holds a candlelit charity Christmas Carol concert, so all the decorations have to be in place in time for that. “It’s quite an occasion. We encourage guests to dress up, and afterwards they stay for drinks and mince pies. Last year the beneficiary was MAGPAS, an invaluable organisation that Linda, my late wife, was patron of, which operates an emergency air ambulance for the East of England.”

Christopher lives and breathes design and decoration. “I started collecting when I was 12, buying a set of Hogarth prints in a local sale,” he recalls. “Upon leaving school, I was taken on by Asprey’s in Bond Street, which then, as now, employed an amazingly skilled group of craftsmen. I learnt on the job, working in the interior design studio that 

ABOVE In the drawing room the original architectural details were mostly intact, although the marble fireplace had been boarded up. Stripped of paint, it is once again the focal point of the room. Similarly, the panels lining the walls were all removed and carefully stripped before being painted in a pale teal finish.

The curtains are a straw-coloured silk seersucker from Osborne & Little.

RIGHT The drawing room sofa is upholstered in Lorenzo, a damask pattern designed by Christopher in the 1970s, available from Bennison.

THE ENGLISH HOME 29

The wood-grain panelled dining room, lit by innumerable candles, is designed for evening entertaining. The table is laid for the festivities on red devoré velvet

by Zuber. Different sets of china and glasses add to the opulent effect, along with Venetian glass figures, gilded picture frames, and a gilt lily chandelier, augmented by sparkling crystal icicles bought from Bloomingdale’s.

‘I instantly had the feeling that the house and I were connected in some way’ was then an important part of the business. I stayed for six years, before leaving to set up on my own.”

With his knowledge and appreciation of historic style, Christopher was soon much in demand, building up an impressive client list, along with experience of working on projects in London and the country.

“It was an exciting time in the interior-design world,” he says. He is still busy. Current projects include a historic eighteenth-century house near Bedford, and the refurbishment of London private members’ clubs such as the Garrick and Boodle’s.

Island Hall has been part of Christopher’s life since he first set eyes on it as a schoolboy in the 1950s. “My family was on a boating holiday on the River Ouse, and we children wandered off to explore nearby Godmanchester. We came across an ornate, rickety Chinese-style bridge leading to an

30 THE ENGLISH HOME

overgrown island in the middle of the river. I noticed a beautiful, but forlorn Georgian house set back amongst trees on the riverbank. I instantly had the feeling that the house and I were connected in some way,” Christopher explains.

“A couple of years later, I was helping my grandmother sort through my grandfather’s papers after he’d died, when I came across a Victorian journal that had belonged to his father. I began to read and to my amazement came across a description of the Chinese wooden bridge and the house. ‘I’ve been there,’ I exclaimed. My grandmother sat down and explained that the house, Island Hall, had been owned by generations of our family since 1804. However, during World War II it had been requisitioned by the RAF, and then sold in the 1950s to the local council, when it was turned into bedsitters. When I passed

Christopher stands in front of a baroque oak mirror at the foot of the grand staircase.

An eighteenth-century portrait illuminated by candlelight is surmounted by a elaborate arrangement of greenery set at a rakish angle. “I do the decorations for my own amusement and ring the changes each year. I’m always adding more. When it all comes down after New Year, everything gets packed away beautifully, ready for next Christmas.”



ABOVE The walls of the main bedroom are lined with a decorative cinnamoncoloured toile de Jouy supplied by Simon Playle depicting the legend of William Tell. The four-poster bed which Christopher acquired as a teenager has been cleverly enlarged with lengths of picture-frame moulding to extend the pelmet. Austrian blinds, made in a sheer fabric from JAB International, filter the light.

my driving test aged 17, my first solo outing was to Island Hall. I stood on the mill weir, gazing at the home of my forebears, wondering if I would ever be able to afford to buy it back.”

Over the years, Christopher returned from time to time, noting the worsening condition of the house, which became semi-derelict following a fire in 1977 when the roof above the south wing fell in. Soon after it found a saviour in the form of Simon Herrtage, an interior designer who bought it as a project to do up.

In 1983, Christopher, married to Linda and living in London with their two small children, picked up a copy of Country Life. “Flicking through the property pages I saw a small announcement that was to change our lives completely – Island Hall was for sale. Linda went along with my proposal to buy it, but it was only after contracts had been exchanged that I told her I’d never actually been inside the house. She was worried the reality might not live up to the fantasy, but the opposite has proved to be true, as I knew it would.”

32 THE ENGLISH HOME

Island Hall could not have fallen into better hands – with his knowledge of English architecture and access to some the most accomplished craftsmen, Christopher spent the next 10 years painstakingly restoring and embellishing each room. “Fortunately my Victorian and Edwardian forebears clearly didn’t believe in spending money unnecessarily,” he explains, “so the original panelling in the principal rooms was still in place, and, amazingly, so were the chimney pieces, which come into their own at this time of year.”

“The entrance hall is where much of the action takes place over Christmas,” Christopher says. “My daughter Grace will be here, and her eldest daughter Ariadne is now four, so Christmas will be especially magical for her. Tryce, my younger daughter will be home from London, along with my son Maxim and his family, so we’ll have a fairly full house. On Christmas Eve, after everyone has arrived, we have tea in the hall in front of a roaring fire.”

RIGHT Christopher bought the Indian mirrored furniture – including the settee, armchair and mirror – in the 1970s at Sotheby’s. They were once part of a collection that belonged to a Nizam of Hyderabad.

BELOW RIGHT Island Hall dates from 1748 and is Grade II* listed. It consists of a three-storey central portion flanked by identical two-storey wings.

PHOTOGRAPH GRACE VANE PERCY

Christopher decorated the dining room with candlelit dinners in mind. “Some may think it’s a bit over the top, but I describe my style as ‘more is more.’ More gilt, more sparkle, more candles...more everything,” he says. “Part of the fun is laying the table. Rather than using plates from the same dinner service, I liven things up with a mix of patterns. Tableware is one of my weaknesses, and since the advent of eBay there is the constant temptation to add to the collection.”

Christopher loves to share the house with others and is a member of the Historic Houses association, so a few times a year Island Hall is open for small tours via its Invitation to View scheme. “We host a variety of functions, from summer weddings or private parties on our ornamental island, to Christmas concerts and dinners. It is a happy house and was clearly made for entertaining. Allowing others to experience the unique setting gives me enormous pleasure. Whether it’s a candlelit dinner or a simple supper in the kitchen, the backdrop should be memorable — and over the top.”  THE ENGLISH HOME 33

CHRISTOPHER VANE PERCY

FANCIFUL FLOURISHES

At Christmas, this interior designer decorates his home with a sense of fun and exuberance

What do you love most about Christmas?

Well I suppose Christmas is the child in us all. As you get older, you have your own children, which reinvigorates Christmas.

Then, when you have grandchildren, it is reinvigorated again. It’s a very exciting and magical time. We are subconsciously creating memories – that’s probably why I love it so much.

How would you describe your style, when it comes to decorating for Christmas?

I am a traditionalist and always say I’m from the Fortnum & Mason school of Christmas decoration rather than Liberty.

I’m creating an illusion rather than setting a trend and go for quite a theatrical ‘more is more’ approach. I make sure I get the

34 THE ENGLISH HOME

basic bones of the decorations right and quietly keep adding, until I wish to stop.

In the hall, the arrangements above the fireplace and painting (pages 26 and 31), have to work together with the tree and garland (page 28). The intention is that they don’t match but have their own distinct look. As the fireplace decoration is very symmetrical, I decided to go for an off-centre, asymmetric display over the painting for a witty feel. As a final flourish I’ve added some whimsical pieces, such as a dove, a drum and a Father Christmas that children love to spot amongst the greenery.

I’ve gone for quite a natural colour palette above the fireplace to harmonise with the stone and wood, but I’ve added a glitter ball into the pediment above the door nearby. I don’t take myself too seriously. I like to throw something in that’s clashing and eye-catching to spark it up a bit. I’ve placed an antique, handblown glass witch ball in the centre of the fireplace arrangement, along with some green tinsel to twinkle up the foliage and add a fun element. I hope the decorations convey a wit and sense of humour – it’s just to amuse really.

Do you make a plan before you start?

I don’t plan ahead and each year I create something slightly different. My style is

quite loose and I suppose it’s like flower arranging. I know basically what I want to do, but ideas come to me as I work, depending on what foliage is in my garden or what decorations I have to hand.

How have you created such an opulent, atmospheric feel on the dining table?

I like to mix and match different styles on the dining table. For example, the white wine glasses might be intricate cut glass, combined with quite plain red wine glasses and coloured champagne glasses, but they all harmonise.

When my wife and I were in Venice one year, I commissioned a set of four Venetian glass figures as a 25th wedding anniversary present, and these are now part of the Christmas table centrepiece. In the eighteenth-century, people often added porcelain figures to tables, so I feel like I’m reviving a tradition from the past.

There is a lot of layering and I’ve even sprinkled crystal diamond scatters on the table to give an extra twinkle. Our dining room is designed to be a candle-lit room.

Apart from two uplighters and one picture light, there are no electric lights in there so it feels very atmospheric, rather like it would have done in Georgian times. n islandhall.com

FEATURE CLAIR WAYMAN PORTRAIT © GRACE VANE PERCY PHOTOGRAPH © ANDREAS VON EINSIEDEL

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Growing up in the 1950s, Christmas was quite a meagre affair. As a boy I can vividly remember watching the film White Christmas and falling in love with the American glamour of their Christmas, thinking ‘one day I will have a Christmas tree like that’. Back in the 1980s, when we first moved to Island Hall, it was impossible to buy big trees, so I would tie three trees together to create the look. These days we use Nordmann Fir Christmas trees which are very bushy and glossy.

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Magical touches



The table and chairs were bought in France, as was the light fitting; for a similar look, try the six-light Wheat chandelier by Besselink & Jones. The ship’s mirror, purple velvet chair and all the cushions are from Catesbys.

Country CHRISTMAS Enchanting decorations and locally gathered greenery create a welcoming Christmas atmosphere in this Grade II listed home in Rutland FEATURE AMANDER MEADE PHOTOGRAPHY RACHAEL SMITH STYLING MARCIA MORGAN

THE ENGLISH HOME 37

ABOVE LEFT To create a welcoming scene for guests plenty of silver and glassware is used on the dining table to reflect the warmth of the candlelight.

ABOVE RIGHT An antique dresser purchased at auction has been decorated with seasonal accessories, a floral arrangement and fruit.

S

tanding proudly at the end of a winding, tree-lined driveway, is a house that immediately transports the imagination back to the eighteenth century. Resembling a parsonage from a Jane Austen novel, the three-storey Grade II listed stone building dates from 1788 and did indeed originally house the local rector. The property is positioned on the edge of a charming village in Rutland, directly opposite the parish church and surrounded by rolling parkland. The setting is idyllic all year round, but owners Neil Honor and Jonathon Pegg say that it never looks better, or feels cosier, than during the festive season.

In 2016, Neil and Jonathon were living in Cambridge and running their homewares business, Catesbys, from a shop in the historic city centre. They discovered Rutland by chance during a weekend away and fell in love with it. “At that time, we were working very long hours and had had enough of traditional retailing. We were ready for a change,” says Neil.

Browsing online, Jonathon came across the house, which is part of the Exton Park Estate and home to the Earls of Gainsborough for almost 400 years. Upon viewing it, the pair were instantly smitten and made

38 THE ENGLISH HOME

the decision to take their lives in a different direction.

“Before we moved here, a friend gave us some excellent advice,” recalls Jonathon. “He said ‘start with how you want to live and let everything else follow’. Those words have stood us in good stead, as not only did the house present the opportunity for a wonderful rural lifestyle, but it also gave us the impetus to move our business online. We use our home to hold regular events as a way of keeping in touch with our customers.”

The festive season begins for the couple in January each year, when they scour European trade fairs to source piecese for their carefully curated Christmas range. “The Europeans still have the skills to craft beautiful, authentic Christmas decorations in handpainted, mouth-blown glass with the quirky yet traditional look we adore,” says Jonathon. “We describe the decorations we love and use in our home as the heirlooms we wish we had inherited, full of nostalgic charm and special enough to be handed down through the family.”

The couple admit the house has helped them to adopt a more relaxed outlook on life. However, they insist they will not become slaves to a period home. 

The front door is dressed with a magnificent natural wreath.

The warm welcome continues within, with candlelight and plenty of fresh foliage. The Venetian mirror was sourced in France and the bench was made to order by Peter Flavell at Flavell Trading.

THE ENGLISH HOME 39

ABOVE Two shelving units house tableware and Jonathon’s collection of cookery books. “The open shelving allows me to keep the things I use most frequently easily to hand,” he says.

RIGHT The workbench was made to order by Flavell Trading. “We needed a worksurface for food preparation and a table for casual dining when it’s just the two of us,” says Jonathon. The Clockhouse stools and Petit Paris pendant lamps are by Garden Trading.

“Our style takes its cues from the house itself,” says Neil. “We had all the rooms painted before moving in, but soon realised we had taken things a little too neutral, so we have since repainted several rooms to introduce more colour. Whilst experimenting and trying to find just the right shades, we tried lots of different Georgian yellows, but they just don’t seem to work with the light in this house.”

The uplifting blue colour used in the sitting room was inspired by the colour of a Cire Trudon candle box, adapted slightly to suit the room and then mixed to order locally. “It was crucial to us that the wall colours were just right as they serve as a backdrop for our collection of modern and contemporary art. It was worth the extra effort as all our pieces definitely sing out far better against bolder hues.”

The couple have strong attachments to only a few of their furnishings and are generally happy to acquire and sell pieces fairly regularly, so their decor changes frequently. “We would never part with some of our key pieces like the rug in the sitting room, but the nature of the business means there are accessories coming and going all the time which keeps things fresh.”

40 THE ENGLISH HOME

The kitchen, with its lack of fitted cabinetry, presented a bit of challenge. However, by chance, the removal men had placed a pair of bookshelves in the kitchen and because they fitted the dimensions exactly, the couple decided to keep them there, creating open shelving for cookware and recipe books. Jonathon is a talented cook and says he loves the feel of a traditional working kitchen. “In keeping with the house’s Georgian origins, the kitchen feels practical and functional, yet at the same time, warm and welcoming. We commissioned a freestanding work bench to our own design which doubles up as a food-preparation space and a dining area. It’s a brilliant practical solution.”

The sitting room is another favourite spot, with its views on both sides of the church and countryside beyond. “We entertain a lot at this time of year and this room is so comfortable and festive with our Christmas tree, roaring fire and lots of cosy throws and cushions. We dress the house from top to bottom using plenty of foliage gathered locally on dog walks and really throw ourselves wholeheartedly into the season,” says Neil. 

THE ENGLISH HOME 41

 42 THE ENGLISH HOME

Adding a twist to the country-house look are pieces from the couple’s collection of contemporary art.

The lithograph above the console table is Grand Helice Rouge

by Sonia Delaunay.

ABOVE The clean, simple lines of the four-poster bed provide the focus in the guest bedroom, whilst brightly patterned cushions add a dash of colour to the otherwise neutral scheme. The bed is by Coach House, and the large mirror, Les Ottomans cushions and lamps are from Catesbys.

The bedside tables are by Biggie Best.

RIGHT The Grade II listed house was originally a rectory.

For Jonathon, Christmas Eve is the most magical day of the year and the culmination of a very busy working time for the pair. “Each year we try to spread some cheer by hosting Christmas lunch at the beginning of December for our close friends and a drinks party for neighbours in the week before the big day,” he says.

“Then, by Christmas Eve we’re ready to relax with homemade sausage rolls and a glass of wine in front of the television.”

On Christmas Day itself, Neil and Jonathon alternate between hosting a celebration at home and dining out with friends, often delaying opening presents until Boxing Day to prolong the excitement.

The days that follow are filled with walks, films by the fireside and grazing on leftovers until New Year which is celebrated in style with champagne and smoked salmon. “We cherish those special days between Christmas and New Year. They’re a welcome pause in the festive frenzy, before – soon enough – it all begins again for next year,” says Jonathon. n

THE ENGLISH HOME 43

Cultural AFFINITY

A Grade II listed property in Essex, originally owned by the Bishops of London, is transformed into a chic family home FEATURE & STYLING ALI HEATH PHOTOGRAPHY BRENT DARBY

44 THE ENGLISH HOME

The kitchen, which was built by a local joiner, was installed 15 years ago. “I mixed the pale aqua colour myself, more or less by accident, and I love it,” says owner McGowan. works TheDee kitchen island is“Itpainted with the and in light SteelinIVhere,

by Paint connects to Library. the garden too.” The & Paper A painting by paintingEmma of a Highland is by McClurecow hangs to daughter the leftDee’s of the ancient Rosie. bread painting of onions is oven The in the right-hand corner.

by Enrique Azocar.

ABOVE The dining area in the open-plan kitchen is a stylish and welcoming space. Both the dining table and chairs are Swedish antiques, from Brownrigg and Augustus Brandt respectively. The striking abstract painting is by Shirin Tabeshfar.

W

alk through the attractive portico entrance of Lucy and Ernest van Vredenburch’s Grade II listed Essex country home and witness a lesson in the virtuosity of keeping the festivities simple. Exquisite art, stylish antiques and vintage glass combine with the glint of soft candlelight and an abundance of natural evergreens to fill the air with promise.

For the van Vredenburch children – Isabella 24, twins Eliza and Saskia, 22 and Hugo, 17 – this striking period property is where they have grown up and each year traditions take on a natural annual rhythm. “The children love to cook ‘oliebollen’ – fried dough balls,

46 THE ENGLISH HOME

a festive speciality in the Netherlands,” Lucy says. “My husband, Ernest, is Dutch and this custom has filtered down from his childhood.”

Lucy and Ernest moved from Battersea in London back to the east coast of England around 20 years ago.

“It was where we had both grown up and we wanted our children to enjoy the same sense of freedom; to run, make dens, ride horses and enjoy being young without the pressures of city life,” Lucy explains.

“Now, although they are older, the country still draws them back. During the holidays the house comes alive with them and their friends. I love the energy that arrives with them all.”

Lucy spent six months searching for the right property before discovering this historic Essex hall surrounded by a moat and set within five acres of open countryside.

“It used to belong to the Bishops of London,” she explains. The original manor house dates back to the sixteenth century and was extended in the eighteenth century to include a red-brick Georgian facade. “We knew as soon as we drove up to the house that this was the one and we never looked back,” Lucy continues.

“It was tired and in need of renovation, but had the prettiest mix of informal and formal gardens, along with orchards and space for horses. It felt like the perfect spot to raise a young family.” 

ABOVE “I love to spend time in here during the day,” Lucy says of the sitting room. For a similar armchair, try The French Bedroom Company and for a similar rug, try Jennifer Manners.

The painting is by Margaret Thomas.

LEFT The stained glass in the front door and the stone flooring juxtapose perfectly with the contemporary painting by Angela A’Court. The French chest of drawers is from Brownrigg in Tetbury.

In the drawing room, furniture and curtains in neutral hues, designed and sourced by Lucy, are teamed with accents of colour and textures in the form of cushions from William Yeoward (left) and Birdie Fortescue (on the window seat).

The tree decorations are from The White Company.

48 THE ENGLISH HOME

Over the past two decades, Lucy and Ernest have restored the house, turning it into a stylish yet relaxed family space. At the heart of the original sixteenth-century part of the house, a large open-plan kitchen with a dining area has been created by knocking through a smaller kitchen and separate scullery. “The kitchen was one of the first projects we completed in the house and has remained current 19 years on,” says Lucy. “The simple Shaker style and lack of wall units help it to feel less designed and more relaxed. The Aga adds a welcoming ambience, too.”

To add to the inviting mood, particularly at this time of the year, Lucy likes to dress the antique Swedish table in the dining area with her favourite silver, china and linens, together with with plenty

of candles to cast a soft glow over festive family dinners and spontaneous get-togethers with friends.

Leading off the kitchen is the family sitting room, which features a high, vaulted ceiling and a woodburning stove. “I love to sit at the desk at the window to write cards and invitations – the light in here is wonderful and there’s a great view over the rolling countryside,” Lucy says.

The drawing room to the right of the main entrance is a much more formal affair, with plump sofas and welcoming armchairs gathered around a central fireplace. Natural foliage picked from the garden – a fragrant mix of spruce, holly, ivy, eucalyptus and snowberries – graces the mantelpiece, and an imposing Christmas tree is covered in a mix of clear- and mercurised-glass balls.

ABOVE The mantelpiece in the drawing room is decorated with fresh foliage, and coral and shell treasures Lucy has collected over many years. Find similar coral pieces at Georgia Lacey Antiques. The painting above it is by Chloë Lamb.

LEFT Lucy in the kitchen, in front of the trusty Aga.

THE ENGLISH HOME 49

Lucy has layered the perfectly proportioned rooms with texture and colour ABOVE The headboard in the master bedroom is covered in Karoo Soft by de Le Cuona. The bedside lights are Nellie by Pooky and the chests of drawers are from Martin D Johnson.

RIGHT The master bathroom walls are in Sand III and the woodwork is in Sand IV, both by Paint & Paper Library.

The mirror was sourced from Ardingly Antiques & Collectors Fair.

Lucy, formerly a marketing consultant, completed a course at KLC School of Design when the children were little and spent time working with friend Birdie Fortescue before establishing her own interior design consultancy, LVV Designs. “I now work actively on a broad scope of client projects, ranging from whole house renovations to one-off room schemes and regularly source art, antiques and homeware for clients,” she explains.

Throughout her own home, Lucy has layered the perfectly proportioned rooms with texture and colour, using timeless fabrics and wallpapers. Think hand-blocked textiles from Fermoie, Blithfield, Birdie Fortescue and Wicklewood; bold prints from Christopher Farr and Mulberry; and stylish wallpapers from Robert Kime and Veere Grenney.

Several of the dark wood antiques and portraits in the house are inherited from Ernest’s Dutch relatives. Lucy has juxtaposed these with Swedish and French furniture in lighter colours and pieces of modern art. “I am particularly drawn to abstract paintings and antique ceramics such as Italian 

50 THE ENGLISH HOME

passata bowls, glazed confit jars, large antique olive pots, decorative French tableware and vintage linens,” she says. “For me it is all about what catches my eye, never what is in vogue. Our home has developed very naturally and the mix of old and new is something I enjoy.”

The first floor of the three-storey house has been reconfigured to create a master suite with a dressing room and bathroom, as well as two en-suite guest bedrooms. Meanwhile, the four children inhabit the top storey’s attic bedrooms, giving them their own self-contained space.

When they are all back together, Lucy, Ernest and their offspring love to take long walks with their five dogs, and meal times are always elongated affairs. “There is always much debate, discussion and frivolity around the table,” says Lucy. “We have evolved as a family within the house. There is something very special about the sense of space, connection and longevity.” n ABOVE The guest bedroom florals echo the delicate floral patterns on the inherited family china. The painting above the bed is by Kate Rhodes.

LEFT In daughter Saskia’s bedroom the vintage French bed is dressed in cushions and a throw by Birdie Fortescue.

THE ENGLISH HOME 51

Vibrant CHARACTER A blend of vivid colours and bohemian style characterise this striking Georgian house in West Sussex FEATURE & STYLING MAGGIE COLVIN PHOTOGRAPHY ROBERT SANDERSON

52 THE ENGLISH HOME

Natural foliage along the mantelpiece is mixed in with a pre-lit garland from Lights4Fun. The pink velvet sofa is from George Smith and the cushions are from Oka. The walls are in a custommixed paint. For a similar colour, try Pink Ground

by Farrow & Ball.

THE ENGLISH HOME 53

A portrait of a Polish airman hangs above an antique chair The in theprevious entranceowners hall. It was left twoby handsome painted Bunch’s greatbrass lanternsOlive in the grandmother, Snell, a entrance hall.

Thewas based prolific artist who Persian rugduring came the at Arundel from David Young.

Second World War. The The antique bespoke sideEnglish tables in walnut and linenmaple are by walnut cupboard is a James Scott-Harden of family Good piece.Furniture.

Damn 54 THE ENGLISH HOME

W

hen Riv and Marc Ahearne, their son Theo, 13, and Riv’s sons from a previous marriage, Roman and Ivo (now grown up), moved into their handsome Grade II listed Georgian manor house nine years ago, rumour, correctly, had it that Riv had finally settled down after four house moves in seven years. Judging by the perfect symmetry of its impressive facade covered in Virginia creeper, it is easy to see how this delightful property would have lasting appeal.

The house occupies a prime position on a quiet cobbled street in a West Sussex market town, with a large private garden and separate mews house at the rear. With high ceilings, an imposing entrance hall, graceful staircase and large square rooms, every nook and cranny is fused with history. “Disappointingly, we do not know a lot about who lived here,” says Riv, “but it feels as though it has been much-loved over the centuries. It has all the architectural assets of a house of its date, and with so many rooms to decorate, I am in my element.” 

ABOVE LEFT The large painting in the sitting room on the first floor is by Riv’s son, Ivo Beckett.

The sofas are from Sofa.com and the walls are painted in Cooking Apple Green

by Farrow & Ball.

ABOVE RIGHT An antique bench, decorated with Moroccan cushions, is tucked below the staircase in the hall.

RIGHT Above the antique Chinese table in the drawing room, is a portrait by Ivo of his brother Theo.

THE ENGLISH HOME 55

‘I do love that multi-coloured, saucy Bohemian look. I’m sure holidays in Tangier and lots of trips to France have inspired my style’ ABOVE LEFT The walls in the dining room are painted in Spearmint by Little Greene and the dining table is from Oka. ABOVE RIGHT Golden Lion tree decorations from Cox & Cox stand guard on each place setting in the dining room.

The previous owners had skilfully negotiated the problems of dealing with a listed building and invested in quality improvements. “They were interior designers, so every built-in cupboard was immaculately designed and every component, even down to the light switches and crystal door handles, was high quality,” explains Riv. “When we moved in, there was nothing major to do. The bones were good, just the colours and carpets were a little oldfashioned, as you would expect.”

Riv is a passionate homemaker who positively embraces constant decorative changes, and the arrival of Christmas and New Year is a perfect excuse to give each room a facelift. This winter she has adventurously even included a new colour scheme to rejuvenate the drawing room.

56 THE ENGLISH HOME

Owning a well-stocked garden helpfully provides Riv with large bundles of fresh foliage to adorn the house decoratively at this time of year, weaving fairy lights through it all as she works her way around the house. “Battery lights have become my secret agent for adding sparkle,” she explains. “They put lively energy into dark corners, and I stretch them along shelves and around wreaths mixed in with fresh foliage. I am quite addicted to those LED chunky church candles, too. Unlike real candles there is no danger of pools of wax marking the antiques and they are incredibly realistic too.”

Full of energy and artistic flair, Riv has transformed the interiors of her property into a welcoming family home in an eclectic, witty way, yet is always thinking of new improvements to make. “Nothing remains the

same for long,” she explains. “I enjoy making endless tweaks and changes.”

The most significant improvement made to the house recently has been creating an open-plan kitchen, snug and dining room, which has hugely increased the amount of light flowing into these spaces and brings everyone together. The kitchen used to be quite cut off, but now it has been opened up, Riv appreciates being able to stand in the kitchen and overlook the snug and dining room. “We all tend to live in this space now,” she explains. “The dining table is everybody’s favourite place to open up their laptop and sit and chat. So when I am working in the kitchen, I no longer miss out on conversations between the boys, my husband and friends.”

The open-plan kitchen has also, fortunately, proved to be a great space for parties. “Christmas and New Year are equally important party times for us as Marc has a birthday on New Year’s Day, so we are almost guaranteed to stage two separate parties.”

ABOVE The handmade kitchen cabinetry is painted in Pearl Colour Mid and the walls provide a gentle contrast in Olive Oil, both by Little Greene. The Christmas cake and mince pies in a tin all came from Bettys.

LEFT Riv standing outside the front door with Cavalier King Charles spaniel Odee. The door is painted in Blue Verditer by Little Greene. The wreath is

by Gisela Graham.

THE ENGLISH HOME 57

ABOVE Decorated in soft neutral tones and florals, the master bedroom has a feminine feel. The curtain fabric is Elizabeth by Ernest & Matilda and the armchair is covered in Cameo Roses by Kate Forman. The walls are painted in China Clay Deep by Little Greene.

RIGHT TruGlow pillar candles from Lights4Fun on the shelf above the mirror shed a romantic glow in this bathroom.

The woodwork is painted in Salix by Little Greene.

Riv loves nothing more than sourcing pieces for her home wherever she happens to be, from souks in Marrakesh to second-hand markets in Normandy and antiques fairs in Sussex, and the fruits of her successful shopping trips give her home its vibrant, eclectic character. “I have to say I do love that multi-coloured, saucy Bohemian look and I’m sure holidays in Tangier and lots of trips to France have inspired my style,” she says.

One of Riv’s first ideas was to paint the house in South of France colours. “I started with the dining room, which I painted in a rich Côte d’Azur turquoise,” she explains. Now, though, the turquoise has been replaced with a soft, lighter shade of greyblue. The drawing room is painted a pale pink plaster and has two sofas facing each other that Riv has had re-covered in deep pink velvet and pink and orange stripes. “Having a father who was an ardent art collector trained my eye and gave me a confidence to experiment with bright colours,” says Riv. It seems the artistic gene has been inherited by the next generation, too, as one of Riv’s boys, Ivo, is now a painter, following in his artist father Robert Beckett’s footsteps. Walls in various parts of the house are graced with paintings from all three men, as well as many bought by Marc and Riv. “We still cannot resist

58 THE ENGLISH HOME

ABOVE The ivy-clad red-brick symmetrical facade of the eighteenth-century Georgian house faces onto the square of the quintessentially English market town in which it is set.

TOP The bedside table (left) in this guest bedroom is from Sally Wells near Midhurst, the lamp is from One World in Haslemere, the quilt is from Sarah K. The artwork is by Julian Bailey RA.

an art gallery opening,” she says. “Even though we both know we have run out of hanging space.”

Evidence of Riv’s courage and dexterity in using colour is particularly noticeable in the hall, where the ornate coving, beams, arches, pillars and door frames have been picked out in a blue/green. The walls are in a much lighter shade of the same hue.

In contrast, the master bedroom and en-suite bathroom have both been decorated in softer, more soothing colours, and filled with painted vintage furniture to create a classically comfortable mood.

Comfort and a relaxed atmosphere are important ingredients in Riv’s home-making format, particularly on the first floor, where a large, low-beamed sitting room, painted a rich olive green, has been turned into a television room furnished with two sumptuously inviting sofas and a rocking chair. Leading off Riv and Marc’s bedroom suite, this is the cosiest, most restful room of all and is where the family gathers for informal celebration drinks and nibbles over the festive period.

“One reason I like this house so much is that it reminds me of the house I grew up in, in London. The stairs and the hall have the same generous proportions.

It is a brilliant place for parties of all ages and we can sit 14 around the dining room table,” Riv says. n

THE ENGLISH HOME 59

STYLE INSPIRATION

Our special section dedicated to design and decorating inspiration begins here

FEAST FOR THE EYES

FEATURE KATY MCLEAN PHOTOGRAPH Š NICO WILLS

Christmas dinner is the centrepiece of festive celebrations and a suitably dressed table adds to the sense of occasion. More is certainly more in this divine dining room by interior designer Katharine Pooley. A low-level garland on the table allows for easy conversation, whilst the extravagant hanging arrangement creates drama.

The rich green and berry tones offer a chic twist on traditional ruby and emerald, with twinkling tree lights, candles, a roaring fire and golden baubles adding a magical touch.

The floral arrangements include fresh pine, eucalyptus, skimmia and trailing red amaranthus and Diplocyclos palmatus.

THE ENGLISH HOME 61

CREATE A wondrous setting How do the professionals dress their homes for Christmas?

Designer Susie Watson reveals how she creates a magical scene with maximum enjoyment and minimal fuss in her own home PHOTOGRAPHY ADAM CARTER

“G

etting ready for Christmas and all of the preparations are almost the most exciting part of the season for me – I really enjoy it. I love adding that whole extra layer of decoration to the house, and the fact that the holly, the tree and a crackling fire also add their own scent by the time its Christmas,” says Susie, who is adamant that creating that Christmas feel at home can be achieved in an afternoon.

SETTING A RELAXED TONE “I really like a comfortable English country house look, and I don’t personally like things to look too precious.

Decorating is about entertaining, and family and friends. You want it to look beautiful but welcoming and not at all off-putting. Create an environment that encourages people to sit down. Little children and

dogs will want to climb on furniture so be ready with throws and cosy cushions – nice feather ones that are comfy. One has to remember it’s a home, a place for people to gather and somewhere that they enjoy coming.

“I don’t think you need to be concerned about things matching exactly. Old English houses had lots of things brought back from around the world and there was plenty of colour and variety. I think that’s the best of British decorating. You may have things you’ve owned a long time, such as an old piece of mahogany furniture, and newer things to add in, particularly at Christmas [such as additional seating for guests]. Once it’s all in there it’s good to have a mix and you don’t notice it.

“The same applies to decorations. You may have some favourites that remind you of Christmasses past.

You can then add maybe one or two, or even four, new baubles every year. I think we should be reusing and pass down decorations that we treasure – such as heavy cotton-and-jute Christmas stockings or sacks that last at least a childhood, or festive tableware that’s a little bit of an investment just for Christmas. When  LEFT The magical scene starts as guests approach Susie’s home. “I think it’s lovely to have some decorations outside and to use trees or climbers that are strong enough to decorate with inexpensive baubles that twinkle nicely,” she says. “It makes such a dfference when you arrive as a guest to see a welcoming wreath. We decorate the stone dogs with ivy collars and sometimes ribbons for Christmas. For me, it shows that dogs will be inside to welcome you, too.”

RIGHT “Very occasionally you do have quite fine weather at Christmas and it’s lovely to sit outside and huddle up after a walk. It’s a bit of a fantasy. Decorating the garden is a really fun idea, especially if you enjoy decorating a spot in which to enjoy a drink in the garden beneath twinkling, bauble-filled trees. Why not take that outside rather than just thinking of the Christmas tree?”

62 THE ENGLISH HOME

THE ENGLISH HOME 63

you bring them out at this time of year, it marks the occasion and makes it feels special. There are also simple touches, like ribbon, which is very useful for stringing up wreaths and baubles, and can be ironed and put away for next year rather than thrown away.”

KEEP IT CLASSIC “I don’t do anything particularly fashionable. I think my style is quite classic or contemporary-classic. The colours I use in my home are all soft and very much to do with the English countryside; all can be found in nature and therefore all go together.

“I like to layer different colours and textures. For example, I create a Christmas sofa with a red or green throw and cushions in a mixture of fabrics. Velvet is very important to use because it’s as soft and tactile as the wool throws are and I like the contrast between 64 THE ENGLISH HOME

ABOVE ”We place the Christmas tree in the hall, which instantly makes the house feel festive and looks very pretty by the staircase. I put faux ivy garlands intertwined with rosehips up the banister. It’s a bit of a cheat but I like using faux as you can create a garland two or three days before Christmas and know it’s not going to deteriorate.

“I do, however, always love a real Christmas tree – the smell of it is so lovely. You don’t need every millimetre of the tree covered in baubles. Enjoy the tree – they are quite expensive and you don’t need to completely cover them. I like to see the green branches and just add some white lights, a few decorations, which I mix up, and a handmade fairy on top.”

RIGHT “If people are coming on Christmas Eve, it’s quite fun to make the sitting room look very cosy. I use baubles, glass hurricane vases and tea light holders everywhere, putting greenery where I can and hanging the stockings at the mantelpiece. It gives an opportunity to add a different dimension to a room. Christmas is an opportunity to go mad and people do love it when they walk in. I’m always so sad to take all the decorations down.

“Cushions are very useful – a layer you can put on instantly. If you want to change the colour of your sofa, you can add a throw and cushions to change the look for the season.”



THE ENGLISH HOME 65

the two. I always add in linen, but if it was all linen it would look at bit flat. Adding velvet or silk adds a shot of shiny fabric without being too much – everything is better for being mixed up with something else.

“It’s about using a bit of this and a bit of that and trying to give a look that’s eclectic and appears to have been put together over a period of time. This creates something relaxed and seamingly unstudied. Then you can swap things around more easily if you see something new that you love and want to add in. 

RIGHT & BELOW ”We often place small cushions at the back of the dining chairs to make them a bit softer and allow guests to sit comfortably for a longer time. I mix up the designs of the chair cushions to give a bit of interest.

I do the same with Christmas crockery and use two different designs along with some plain plates. It’s possible to be effective with just a few Christmas plates and bowls rather than it being necessary to have a whole set. A little bit of Christmas pottery is really fun. If I didn’t have any, I’d start with the candles as they are cheaper, and the hurricane vases make great vases, too – it’s important to have things that are versatile and reusable.

“To dress the table I mix short candles, hurricane vases and tall vases. Something with personality adds a further layer of interest, such as our hand-painted, candy-striped candles. Don’t worry too much about how to style it, but have a pair or even numbers and something in the middle of a table like a jug of flowers, and then the same amount of candles both sides, but have lots – pile them on! Of course, make sure candles are lit in a hurricane vase or in a candlestick and never leave them unattended when lit – especially if tinies [children] are around.”

ABOVE ”A dresser is another area to decorate quickly and effectively. Use white hellebores, Christmas plates, cyclamen in tea cups or jugs, pine cones and ivy. A few little things, like baubles in vases that glint in the light, can add a whole different layer of decoration.

Little flower bottles are really useful and you can use them all year round in different ways.”

THE ENGLISH HOME 67

“I think people can find decorating for Christmas daunting and complicated, but it needn’t be. If you have a pile of baubles, string them up in unexpected places and in groupings of different colour combinations. Use foliage everywhere – I love using a mix of faux and real trailed across door frames, picture frames and headboards.

“I think candlelight is extremely important and really gives a Christmas atmosphere. I put them everywhere around the house and they never look gaudy. Use a few techniques like this and repeat them all over the house – there’s no need to feel that you need to do something different in every room. By the second year you do this, you’ll find you have discovered what works and it’s a real pleasure to spend an afternoon adding festive touches to your home.” n 68 THE ENGLISH HOME

ABOVE ”If guests are coming to stay and find a posy of festive flowers by the bed or trailing ivy decorating the chandelier or headboard, it really shows that you’ve thought about them. Find a place on the bed or a window latch in which to group baubles together and hang them up to show off their lovely colours. Use different clusters of colours – blue and silver, green and red – to vary the look around the house.”

About Susie Watson

Susie Watson started her current business by designing a range of kitchen china which was made at a small Stoke-on-Trent factory. A lucky introduction brought Susie and her team to a highly specialist ceramics factory in Sri Lanka.

This in turn led to further product ranges being developed in India, using specialist makers and preserving traditional techniques and skills.

These family-run workshops have become very much part of their working family and close friends. Today, Susie Watson Designs produces items for every room in the home which can be bought online and in 10 showrooms around the UK. The business sells homeware focused on a classic look and also offers an interior design service. All products used to decorate Susie’s home are from Susie Watson Designs Handmade Home Collection at susiewatsondesigns.co.uk

FEATURE SAMANTHA SCOTT-JEFFRIES PHOTOGRAPHS ADAMCARTERPHOTO.COM

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QUINTESSENTIALLY

Inspiration for seasonal pastimes and making the most of life at home starts here

FEATURE KATY MCLEAN

ALL THINGS NICE

Whether baking with children or enjoying a quiet afternoon of filling the kitchen with tempting smells of sugar and spices, homemade biscuits make a wonderful, thoughtful gift to give to loved ones.

Use star, tree and angel-shaped cutters and present the results in vintage tins, pretty boxes or a simple, ribbon-tied bag. Pierce a hole before baking to allow for biscuits to be threaded with ribbon and used as tree decorations – if temptation can be resisted.

Find the recipe for these delicious gingerbreads at www.daylesford.com/recipes/gingerbread-decorations

THE ENGLISH HOME 71

MY ENGLISH HOME

Matthew Fort FROM PATCH TO PLATE

Passionate about growing and cooking seasonal produce at his Cotswolds home, the renowned food writer and critic tells of his passion for Christmas puddings

‘N

ow thrice welcome, Christmas, which brings us good cheer, minc’d-pies and plum-porridge, good ale and strong beer’ runs an entry in Poor Robin’s Almanac for 1695. We all love Christmas. We adore Christmas.

We treasure Christmas. “It’s Christmas,” we say, “the Season of Good Cheer.”

There’s the magic of Christmas, with Christmas stockings, hampers, cakes, trees, decorations and presents. Added to which, there is Christmas dinner.

In Germany they celebrate Christmas with Gänsebraten mid Äpfeln, Rotkohl und Kartoffelklösse (roast goose with apples, red cabbage and potato dumplings to you). In Finland they tuck into Rusinasoppa (cinnamon-spiced plum porridge). In the French region of Provence they make do with a mere treize desserts (thirteen puddings). In Poland, as far as I can make out, they eat their Christmas Day feast on Christmas Eve. And those generous Americans go for a double celebration, with Thanksgiving one month and Christmas the next.

In England we have roast turkey or goose with all the trimmings, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, roast parsnips, cranberry sauce or apple sauce, bread sauce, gravy, Stilton cheese, Christmas pudding, brandy butter, chocolates, and much else besides. Okay, some years we try to vary it, with, say, pheasant instead of turkey or goose, or venison perhaps, or beef, but sooner or later we revert to turkey or goose, and usually turkey at that.

Christmas is not the time, in my view, for exploration of the culinary hinterland in search of

72 THE ENGLISH HOME

novelty. It’s about about ritual and tradition, hearth and home, family and familiarity. It’s about eating what we ate last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, because that’s the way we like it.

At the heart of Christmas ritual, tradition, hearth, home, family and familiarity, there is the Christmas pudding.

In 1843, Charles Dickens summed up the appeal of the Christmas pudding when he wrote of Mrs Cratchit’s Christmas pudding in A Christmas Carol – ‘Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing-day! That was the cloth. A smell like an eating-house and a pastry cook’s next door to each other, with a laundress’s next door to that!

That was the pudding. In half a minute Mrs Cratchit entered: flushed, but smiling proudly: with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.’

Yes, indeed. No other nation has a pudding of such magnificence, such many layered beauty. It’s a monument to gastronomy, a summary of what makes British cooking great. Yes it’s substantial.

Yes, it’s filling. Yes, it’s the exclamation that marks the end of the gastronomic ramble that is Christmas dinner. But, ah, the perfume of spice, the sweetness of fruit, the dancing flames of burning brandy, the drama, the brandy butter or double cream, the brandy butter AND double cream.

That is the spirit of Christmas.

But if you want to dazzle your family, friends, waifs and strays, break away from strict tradition and yet honour the glory that is our Christmas pudding, may I suggest these two recipes. There will be no complaints.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING SOUFFLÉ INGREDIENTS 40g butter, melted 500g cooked Christmas pudding 400ml full cream milk 6 large eggs, separated, plus 2 extra egg whites Salt Icing sugar, for dusting

METHOD • Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/ gas mark 5. Grease two soufflé dishes with melted butter.

• Put the pudding into a processor and whizz to break it up. Leave it in the food processor.

• Bring the milk to the boil, then add to the pudding, whizzing until mixed in.

• Add the egg yolks one by one, whizzing them in, too.

• Beat the whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, and fold this airy mass into the pudding mixture.

• Spoon the lot into the soufflé dishes. Bake for 40 minutes – keep an eye on them as you don’t want to burn the top too much.

• Dust with icing sugar and serve with brandy butter ice cream. (See recipe opposite for how to make this.)

About Matthew Best known as a judge on BBC2’s Great British Menu. Matthew is an award-winning food writer and critic.

He was the Food & Drink Editor of The Guardian for 15 years and is the author of four books.

PHOTOGRAPHS P72 (PORTRAIT) GRANT SCOTT. P73 © STOCKFOOD / NEWS LIFE MEDIA ILLUSTRATIONS YEVHENIIA LYTVYNOVYCH/SHUTTERSTOCK

BRANDY BUTTER ICE CREAM INGREDIENTS 2 eggs 100ml full cream milk 150g brandy butter 234ml double cream 125g honeycomb

METHOD • Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly.

Heat the milk in a pan until boiling, then pour into the eggs, whisking all the time.

• Return the custard to the pan and heat very gently until it begins to thicken. Allow to cool.

• Add the melted, cooled brandy butter.

• Whisk the cream until it is almost stiff, then carefully fold into the custard mix. Add in the

chunks of honeycomb, keeping a few bits back to sprinkle on top of the ice cream at the end.

• Churn in an ice-cream machine or, if you don’t have one, freeze for two hours until it begins to set, then whisk vigorously to get air into the mixture and return to the freezer – repeat this a couple of times if you want a really soft ice, though it’s not strictly necessary.

• Defrost slightly before serving. n THE ENGLISH HOME 73

Festive

ENTERTAINING Enjoy the seasonal pleasure of entertaining at home, and take inspiration for creating the perfect scene for food, drink and time with loved ones

Cocktail parties

B

e they large or small, social gatherings give a convivial structure to the festive season, with Christmas and New Year’s Eve undoubtedly amongst the highlights. Creating opportunities to spend time with loved ones lifts the heart and spirits amidst the dark nights and the drop in temperature.

Setting the scene

TOP Swoon Lovelace bar cart, £399; The Arts champagne saucers in Purple/Gold, £35 for two; The Arts tumblers, £25 for two; The Arts optic carafe, £30; Tom Dixon Tank Decanter, £110, all John Lewis & Partners ABOVE Frost Fair ceramics by Rebecca Edelman, from £85; paper chain garland kits, £18, all The Shop Floor Project

74 THE ENGLISH HOME

The glamour and appeal of hosting an elegant drinks gathering can be found in setting the scene as well as in enjoying the event itself.

To create a truly special sense of occasion, begin by creating a focal point to draw both the eye and guests to the hub of the action. Stylist and Bar Cart Style author Emily Henson suggests starting with “a decadent bar cart in gold or silver, perhaps with marble or mirrored shelves”, before adding glassware and cocktail accoutrements with a personal touch. Henson suggests “a selection of delicate champagne coupes, maybe vintage finds, and some dainty bar accessories like glass straws and beaded coasters.”

Other pieces of furniture, such as sideboards or console tables, can be employed for their aesthetic as well as practical potential. Much in the same way that creating a tablescape for dinner parties affords opportunity to play with scale and height, arranging objets d’art alongside trays of nibbles and delicate silverware can bring variety and a playfulness in creating a new tableau.

Magnify the visual impact by offsetting the whole scheme against the backdrop of a mirrored

surface or by placing a decorative mirror at a low level on the wall above the surface.

Finishing touches

Though cocktail parties may be synonymous with sophistication, they should also be imbued with warmth. At this time of year decorations, such as handmade paper chains or Christmas tree baubles artfully arranged, add plentiful charm and personality.

Soft lighting, too, is of paramount importance for scene-setting. “Muted lighting is essential for creating the mood,” notes Henson, “so dim the overhead lights and add some candlesticks in amongst your bottles.”

Specialist cocktail equipment, whilst not a prerequisite, can be helpful in perfecting the art of cocktail making. Consider buying a spirit measure for accuracy when mixing.

The drinks

Finally, keeping it simple is as good a reason as any for selecting which drinks to serve.

“If it’s a special occasion, put a bottle of bubbles on ice for a classic gin and fizz cocktail, such as the supremely chic French 75 – gin, champagne, lemon juice and sugar,” Henson advises. “And a classic coupe or saucer is surely the most elegant of all cocktail glasses. They’re ideal for champagne cocktails, of course, but they also work well for straight-up drinks.”

A simple recipe will also allow ample time to focus on guests. 

Create an impactful backdrop with a mirror, a floral arrangement and highly polished accessories and glassware.

V&A Palm Goblet (Small), £9.90; Alsace Nickel Bottle Cooler, £45, Piette Glass Jar (Tall), £75; Aldgrove Candelabra £1,125, all India Jane

THE ENGLISH HOME 75

Cosy suppers

O

n a cold winter’s night, a cosy kitchen supper can be incredibly cheering. Regardless of the excesses and indulgences of the festive season, sharing a nourishing meal, prepared with love and care, is an ideal scenario for prompting conversation with the closest of friends around the kitchen table.

Though such an occasion is informal, the choice of elements that make up a snug and welcoming evening spent in the heart of the home requires thoughtful planning to set the mood and ensure guests are comfortable.

As the stars of the show, the table decoration and tableware are undoubtedly of primary importance. Bear in mind, too, that whilst some may argue a formal seating plan harks back to dinner parties of old, there is a great deal to be said for a gentle guiding hand to create the right group dynamic. Try subtle signposting in the form of hand-written placecards, and opt for inexpensive thoughtful touches such as small gifts at each setting.

Similarly, the selection and placement of tableware can bring a sense of occasion to sit comfortably alongside the cosy ambience of an evening in. The layering of charger plates,

ABOVE An impactful main course is a source of visual and delicious comfort.

Christmas Tree Cocotte in Basil, £249, Staub LEFT Party games provide levity at the end of the night.

Christmas Bingo, £12, Laura Ashley OPPOSITE PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Have a selection of glassware at hand for different wines and water, as well as for aperitifs and post-prandial drinks.

Glasses (from left to right): Shiraz; Bordeaux; Tempranillo; Pinot Noir; Zinfandel, all £45 for a set of two; Water glass, £25 for a set of two, all Riedel Adorn the table with elegant tableware such as this hand-shaped earthenware, decorated in marbled clay swirls.

Cream Swirl Earthenware Dinner Plate, £135; Bowl £115; Condiment Bowl, £55, all Pentreath & Hall Hand-written placecards add a personalised touch and draw guests to the right seat.

Gold Foiled Falling Flower Placecards, £19.50 for a packet of 12, Summerill & Bishop

dinner plates and dessert bowls adds an elegant note to proceedings without being a stretch too far from relaxed informality.

On the menu

When it comes to recipe choice, opting for a minimum-fuss, maximum-impact central dish adds to the convivial mood when placed in the middle of the table. Few things are as welcoming as the scent and sight of a bronzed roast chicken peeking from a pleasingly solid cast-iron dish.

As food writer Nigella Lawson writes in her cookbook Kitchen: “For me, a chicken remains the basic unit of the home. I don’t really feel like a kitchen is mine until I’ve cooked a chicken there.” Her instructions for those wishing to create a simple roast chicken are to, “Count on giving it 20 minutes per 500g at 200°C/gas mark 6, plus 20 minutes overall, although I sometimes leave out the 20 minutes overall part and roast the chicken in a hotter oven at 220°C/gas mark 7.”

Meanwhile, food writer Diana Henry’s book, A Bird in the Hand: Chicken Recipes for Every Day and Every Mood, has variations aplenty, and non-meat eaters will appreciate Anna Jones’s vegetarian book The Modern Cook’s Year.

To follow, a party game or two alongside pudding or cheese provides an opportunity to cement new-found, or strengthen existing, bonds. Board games or a quick-fire round of 20 questions will keep everyone on their toes.

THE ENGLISH HOME 77

A Party Cheese Board

“Putting together a cheese platter is a great way to get creative and make something that’s really visually pleasing for your party. Start by placing the bigger items on the board first, and build colour, texture and layers around them. Height is very visually effective, so consider stacking some items, and using larger but fewer pieces of cheese.

Grouping garnishes – so there are big blocks of colour around the board – has great impact too.

I also like to have plenty of knives at the ready, with a mix of soft- and hard-cheese knives for ease.

“Having a variety of crackers and biscuits is always important, and is a really easy way to add different colours and textures. Cheese is very personal, with everyone enjoying different combinations, so having that range is always a good idea. Palate cleansers, too, are key: most people go with grapes and apples. Though these work, they can be a bit dull. Try adding something unusual, like Roquito chilli peppers, which work especially well to cut through creamy cheeses.

“For New Year’s Eve, or for gatherings with lots of people, stick to ‘the rule of three’ – a hard, a soft and a blue cheese. Make the cheeses you choose exciting and your guests will be happy.

I would suggest switching away from the classic Cheddar, Stilton and Brie, and opting for some exciting, complex, British options. Try Trotter Hill, a Lancashire cheese that matches well with fruit cake; Blacksticks Blue, a bright orange cheese with rich blue veins that’s great as a centrepiece (and that I especially love with robust ginger biscuits); and Kidderton Ash, a delicate goat’s cheese with a softness that perfectly balances with the sweetness of cranberry sauce.

“When it comes to enjoying cheese, I believe it should always be served at room temperature.

If it is served straight from the fridge, you don’t experience the true flavour profile. So take your cheeses out of the fridge at least an hour before you intend to serve them.

“Platters aside, bear in mind, too, that cheese is such a versatile product. I eat it every day, and how I eat it changes most days as I like to experiment with different flavour combinations. There are so many varieties that you could consider pairing with steak or fish, or vegetables, or with a variety of wines and beers.” butlerscheeses.co.uk n 78 THE ENGLISH HOME

FEATURE EVE MIDDLETON PHOTOGRAPHS P76 (STAUB) © OLIVER BRACHT

Matthew Hall, a director and fourth-generation cheesemaker at Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses, shares his thoughts on creating a cheeseboard to serve at a party

Try ringing the changes when it comes to laying out the cheeseboard. Adding new flavours in the form of crackers, chutneys and fruit can reap dividends.

THE THE ENGLISH ENGLISH HOME HOME 79 79

THE SEASONAL HOME: Christmas Use natural materials from foliage to flowers, along with herbs, pinecones and fruit to dress the home for the festive season

D

ecking the halls with boughs of holly, ivy, mistletoe and other greenery is a long-held ritual whose roots lie in celebrations of the winter solstice and warding off evil spirits.

Today the festive period sees all manner of greenery brought into the home to dress mantelpieces, hallways and doors, as well as, of course, a resplendent Christmas tree – a custom believed to have been introduced to England by Prince Albert.

Though fresh flowers are not so abundant, evergreen foliage is plentiful and readily evokes the festive feeling, from a small sprig of holly on the corner of a picture frame to a magnificent table dressing full of greenery.

Florist and founder of Wild at Heart, Nikki Tibbles says: “When it comes to seasonal plants for winter, I love every type of foliage – from Scots pine, to ivy and lichen branches. I also adore holly and mistletoe, and, of course, eucalyptus, because of the fragrance.” Kim Robinson, floristry manager at Daylesford, adds that a favourite material to use is “blue spruce, which has a beautiful blue-grey colour and a lovely Christmas pine smell, particularly whilst you are working with it”.

Holly, or ilex, is an obvious choice for natural decorations and comes in a host of different varieties, including glossy green to variegated leaves, as well as very prickly and not-so-prickly guises. “The less prickly ones are much nicer to work with for holly wreaths,” Robinson says. Holly berries can also be used to add extra colour. Robinson reveals that they use stems of berries, which are available in shades from pale apricot to ruby red, without any foliage.

80 THE ENGLISH HOME

Other seasonal greenery includes holly’s perfect partner, ivy, as well as cuttings of pine and spruce.

Robinson advises foraging in the garden for anything evergreen. “We gather most of our materials for wreath making from the Daylesford estate. They don’t have to be Christmassy: laurel, rosehips, seed heads, grasses.

We start drying materials in late summer to work with alongside fresh foliage.”

Dried fruits such as oranges can also add colour and scent. Herbs such as rosemary, myrtle and sage can add a lovely aroma, too. A bough of mistletoe is a welcoming sight in a hallway and is readily available – either foraged or bought from local farms that have it growing in apple trees.

In addition to greenery, there are some flowers that can be used to bring colour and beauty to natural displays. Traditional roses are a classic addition to a luxurious wreath, but the seasonal Christmas rose, or hellebore, is also a popular choice. Bulbs such as amaryllis, hyacinth and paper whites (narcissi) are desirable for displays or gifts. Cyclamen and poinsettias are good potted plants for seasonal colour.

Finally, a natural tree is the biggest seasonal plant to come indoors. “I strongly encourage people to use potted trees,” Tibbles advises. “We always use potted Christmas trees at Wild at Heart for sustainable reasons, but they also stay fresh and are easy to water throughout the festive season.”

Over the coming pages we explore creative ways to work with Christmas greenery, flowers and other natural materials to create decorative, festive displays.

ABOVE LEFT Florist Nikki Tibbles enjoys the abundance of seasonal material to work with at Christmas. Assorted foliage and berries help to create an immediate festive feel in reds and greens, in an array of textures and scents.

RIGHT A simple garland of pine and holly sets the scene in a hallway, with a few colourful baubles and ribbons to envliven the arrangement.

Jugs or vases of holly can also be used to add festive cheer in any room of the house, and, of course, a sprig of green leaves on a picture frame is a charming idea.

THE ENGLISH HOME 81

A WELCOME WREATH

‘You can achieve so much with foraged materials from the garden. Just hand-tie bunches of foliage on the door with a luxurious bow.

Very simple but very effective’ Kim Robinson, floristry manager, Daylesford

82 THE ENGLISH HOME

A wreath on the door signals festive cheer to passersby and a welcome greeting to guests.

Nikki Tibbles advises: “If you have a huge front door you need to make sure your wreath is in proportion. It’s down to personal taste but don’t feel you need to match the wreath with the colour of your front door. For me anything goes and I like to mix the colours up.” That said, she adds that whilst she is known for bold colour combinations, “at Christmas I tend towards a more traditional approach and take inspiration from nature.” She uses an enormous three-metre diameter wreath on her barn door made from a selection of natura materials including pinecones, lichen branches and holly.

Daylesford makes wreaths to sell but also offers courses for home-made creations (2020 courses TBC, subject to Government guidance). Kim Robinson explains they start their wreaths from scratch, using foraged willow for the frame rather than wire.

A wreath hung on a front door should absorb some moisture from the air to keep it fresh throughout December. Robinson advises that anything brought inside or kept in a porch should be given a gentle misting every so often to prolong its life.

However, for anything being used for a display on Christmas Day, Robinson advises bringing it in at the last minute so it is at its optimum appearance.

ABOVE The Daylesford team create wreaths on foraged willow frames, working in any gathered materials from the estate.

TOP LEFT Nikki Tibbles advises that a door wreath should be in proportion to the size of the door. This one has a classic look, completed with a luxurious velvet bow.

LEFT A ribbon-tied bunch of mistoe in a hallway or porch is a welcoming sight.

‘I love big vases full of one type of foliage or with red berries. It makes a statement whilst being simple’ Niki Tibbles, founder of Wild at Heart ABOVE This impressive hanging bough by Daylesford is simply a wreath hung upside down.

RIGHT Strands of ivy can be wrapped around a branch or light fitting for a simple table decoration.

Hand-painted baubles unite a warm golden orange scheme.

Paint, Annie Sloan BELOW Ethereal old man’s beard found in the hedgerows creates a snowy, romantic feature.

Tableware, Rowen & Wren

Add aroma to displays with scented candles, spices, fruit and pine cones.

TABLE DRESSING Whether for the big day or events during advent, dressing the table sets the scene for a festive feast. Natural decorations can be used in a small way – adding sprigs of holly or herbs to napkin rings – through to garlands running down the length of the table and dramatic hanging boughs above. “When entertaining I love to fill the table with bud vases filled with fresh, seasonal flowers and taper candles to create drama and softly light the room,” Tibbles says.

For a large, impactful display Robinson advises that a large wreath can be created and hung upside down above the table.

“The back of the wreath is at the top so you don’t see it,” she explains. “You can bevel foliage round so you don’t see the base at all.

If you want it to be seen at all angles, you have to make it up on the full frame, front and back.” Simply hanging mistletoe, ivy, or old man’s beard overhead can also create an effective arrangement.

For displays with tantalising aromas, Robinson says: “Add some drops of essential oil to pine cones. A warm room will help release all the aromas of these, as well as herbs and other scented foliage, or dried fruits such as orange slices.” THE ENGLISH HOME 83

For an alternative, ethearel look, place gypsum with sprigs of rosemary and lavender in delicate bud vases.

ABOVE Stylist Tamsyn Morgans suggests glass yoghurt pots as tea-light holders on an upturned galvanised-metal tray, adorned with sprigs of ivy or olive leaves for a pretty table centrepiece.

BELOW LEFT Use a bauble as a festive bud vase to add a sweet flourish by removing its cap.

BELOW RIGHT Pink amarylis adds a feminine note.

PRETTY IDEAS Though natural materials lend themselves to a classic green-and-red scheme, a softer, twinklier, more romantic look can be achieved with hues of white, silver and pink alongside touches of greenery.

A garland of ivy on a mantelpiece or along a table, woven around tealights in jam jars, is a simple but charming way to imbue a festive feel, and a jug or case of greenery can be given added sparkle by with a metallic spray. Gypsum adds an ethereal, delicate look when added to bud vases or larger arrangements. Buds placed in a bauble used as a makeshift vase, can be hung on windows, or hooks on a fireplace or shelf.

Dried flowers from summer, such as hydrangeas, statice and lavender, along with delicate hellebores, offer some pastel colours for wreaths and table arrangements, and cyclamens are available in snowy whites, pastel pinks and lilacs.

Add cut-crystal glasses, candles, fairy lights and silver decorations for added twinkle to create a magical mood.  84 THE ENGLISH HOME



‘Evoke a romantic feel with twinkling lights, the soft glow of candles and touches of pink, white and silver’

ried summer flowers including hydrangeas, statice and sweet William can be used to create a romantic wreath or door or tab e.

THE ENGLISH HOME 85

MAKE IT SPECIAL

‘Decorate home-made gift tags with sprigs of greenery and dried flowers’ Tamsyn Morgans, stylist ABOVE Fill clear baubles with dried flowers or seed heads for a natural look – or these are available ready made from Cox & Cox. ABOVE RIGHT Stylist Tamsyn Morgans suggests: “Make your own gift labels. I dyed these plain labels using tea and a little food colouring. Decorate with buttons, tiny brooches, dried flowers and sprigs of greenery.”

LEFT & FAR LEFT Dried oranges add a flourish to gifts or create an aromatic wreath.

Gift wrap (left), Rowen & Wren; paint (far left), Annie Sloan

86 THE ENGLISH HOME

FEATURE KATY MCLEAN PHOTOGRAPHS P80 & 82 (WILD AT HEART) © BEN QUINTON; P81 © FLORA PRESS/EWA; P82 © MATTHEW TAYLOR/ALAMY; P83 © EWA/FLORA PRESS/ANTJE MICHAELIS-HAEG; P84 © (TOP LEFT) © SARAH GARDNER; (TOP RIGHT) © TAMSYN MORGANS; (BOTTOM LEFT) © EWA/FLORA PRESS/FLORA PRODUCT; (BOTTOM RIGHT) © IBULB; P85 © EWA/FLORA PRESS/HELGA NOACK; P86 (TOP RIGHT) © TAMSYN MORGANS

Making a home-made gift or decoration, adding a natural flourish to gift wrap or drying fruits and petals for potpourri give Christmas the personal touch. Here are some sweet ideas for using flowers, foliage and fruit for that extra level of detail and care at the most wonderful time of the year. n

White Porcelain Made in England

English_Home-Garden_Ad_4.17.20.qxp_Layout 7 4/17/20 2:29 PM Page 1

t: +44 (0)1538 371471 e: home@scabetti.uk.com www.scabetti.uk.com Bespoke Shoal in a private residence in Cornwall, England. Photo by Mark Ashby.

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88 THE ENGLISH HOME

THE ENGLISH HOME 89

PROPERTIES FOR SALE

HOUSES WITH CHARACTER Our selection of some of the most appealing properties for sale.

This month, homes suitable for family gatherings and celebrations

1

MAJESTIC MANOR Combining period features with superb finishes, Bracon Lodge in Norfolk is a Grade II listed property that is well-appointed for gettogethers with friends and family. Whip up a feast in the kitchen with ingredients picked from the garden and orchard, before heading to the china room to choose which crockery to use to set the table. Both the dining room and drawing room are of eighteenth-century proportions, with fireplaces as welcoming backdrops, and sash windows framing views of the surrounding parkland. There is a lake with its own jetty in the grounds, outdoor seating areas and a tennis court. Accommodation comprises six bedrooms on the upper two floors of the house, which is located on the outskirts of Norwich.

Bracon Lodge, Norfolk, ÂŁ2,500,000, Strutt & Parker

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HISTORIC HALL Grade II* listed Beachampton Hall in Buckinghamshire is believed to have been part of Katherine Parr’s dowry to King Henry VIII. Steeped in history, the six-bedroom manor in Beachampton village offers a glorious setting for special occasions. Most notable of the house’s reception rooms is the former grand chamber, which accommodates both dining and seating areas and features original wall panelling and views from the large windows to the landscaped gardens. Billiards in the games room provides indoor entertainment for young and old alike, or take fishing rods down to the River Great Ouse at the edge of the grounds. Enjoy the catch of the day prepared with everyone’s help in the beautifully finished kitchen.

Beachampton Hall, Buckinghamshire, £3,500,000, Savills

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COSY COTTAGE Tucked away in the hamlet of Wardley Green in the Milland Valley, West Sussex, Brook Cottage is cosy in character yet still offers plenty of space for family gatherings.

Cook a full English breakfast on the Aga to enjoy at the table in the farmhouse-style kitchen, before venturing out on the many footpaths in the area. Return to the comfort of the drawing room for an afternoon of games or reading beside the log burner. Like the other reception rooms of the Grade II listed property, the dining room features exposed timber beams and an original fireplace, and is ideal for intimate dinners. There are four bedrooms upstairs, with the option to convert the dressing room into a further bedroom for additional accommodation.

Brook Cottage, West Sussex, £1,550,000, Jackson-Stops THE ENGLISH HOME 91

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5 6 WARM WELCOME Dating from the seventeenth century, The Priory in Northamptonshire is a Grade II listed residence that has been recently renovated into a host or hostess’s dream. Welcome visitors with drinks by the fire in the grand reception hall, complete with impressive oak-panelled walls and staircase that leads up to eight bedrooms on the upper two floors.

Linger over an elegant luncheon in the lofty dining room, which benefits from large windows and a fireplace. Then take tea in one of the seating areas in the drawing room or out on the sunny terrace, if the weather permits. The garden delights include a pond, waterfall and a bridge over the River Ise, which flows through the property’s grounds, that leads to a snowdrop wood.

The Priory, Northamptonshire, £1,950,000, Carter Jonas 92 THE ENGLISH HOME

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COUNTRY RETREAT Grade II listed Monks Cottage is situated in the idyllic Conservation Area of Offenham in Worcestershire, known for the tallest maypole in England, which forms the focal point for traditional village events such as festive carol singing and May Day Morris dancing. The three-bedroom property is suitable for hosting celebrations too, with inviting reception rooms that retain a wealth of period features. Step into the entrance hall and be greeted by exposed beams and stonework and an open fireplace. Walk through the breakfast room to the enviable kitchen, where catering for a crowd is a breeze thanks to the bespoke finishes and large pantry. The sitting room has an inglenook fireplace and original bread oven, and offers cosy corners in which to relax after any festivities.

Monks Cottage, Worcestershire, £675,000, Hamptons International

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CROWD PLEASER A pronounced gabled roof, curved arches and stained-glass windows are just some of the distinctive features of Holmwood Heath, an Arts and Crafts residence believed to have been built in 1907, outside the village of Hindhead in Surrey. Boasting nine bedrooms and spacious reception rooms, the period property is perfect for entertaining a crowd.

Sit down to a formal dinner in the stately dining room, which benefits from high ceilings and an attractive fireplace. Follow the meal with a digestif in the elegant drawing room. For a more relaxed affair, catch up over tea around the farmhousestyle kitchen table, which fits the whole family. Take afternoon walks in the extensive grounds or plan an excursion into the surrounding Surrey countryside.

Holmwood Heath, Surrey, £2,500,000, Knight Frank n

FEATURE JANINE JORGENSEN PHOTOGRAPHS (2) © BEN NICHOLSON; (3 & 6) © PETER WRIGHT

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THE ENGLISH HOME 93

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25/02/2020 15:50

Mrs Minerva writes...

The art of

CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS Passionate about quintessential English customs, our incognito columnist reminds us to do the best things in life in the most elegant fashion, always with a twinkle in her eye

BELOW When a little sparkle is needed, Mrs M turns to her heirloom bauble collection to add a dash of colour to garlands and glass bowls as well as the Christmas tree. To build your own collection, try libertylondon.com

I

think it is fair to say it will be a very different kind of Christmas this year at Minerva Towers.

This has been a year to remember for all the wrong reasons and I am sure many of us will be rather glad to see the back of it. It’s brought with it much sadness, but also a renewed sprit of kinship, community and innovation. We have learned to do things we never thought possible.

I learned to make masks, I batched-cooked suppers for our vulnerable neighbours and made scrubs for the NHS, and Mr M learned that it is possible to live without a nightly trip to the King’s Head. He also came to realise early on that social distancing is the ideal explanation for staying well away from anyone he cannot tolerate. I am not entirely sure he would agree, but perhaps we also both learned to make allowances for each other.

Christmas will be a homemade affair, drawing on all the traditions we have built up as a family over the decades. It will be bittersweet, as we are moving house in the New Year. Mr M talks of it as our ‘last Christmas’, which, to be fair, it may well be if he doesn’t stop singing the Wham song of a similar name but with all the wrong lyrics.

The children are all coming home this year so we can have one last go at the festive season here. Of course, the house is not going anywhere. Next year, we will all be back here, only it will be our eldest son and his very lovely wife who will be hosting it. They are moving into the house and we are downsizing to a smaller one in a tiny market town close by, which the children insist on calling ‘the dower house’ or, rather inexplicably, ‘the bungalow’. This is particularly odd – as it has three floors – but they seem highly amused by it all.

This Christmas, then, will be my swan song and I have been planning it since July. That might have

seemed even stranger had the weather been seasonal, but much of it seemed relentlessly grey and we even turned the heating on a couple of times.

Christmas rituals are all-important at the best of times, but perhaps even more so knowing that this will be the last year I will be in charge of proceedings.

Even though the children are all grown up, they still have stockings delivered to the end of their beds on Christmas Day morning and they still manage to get excited about the contents. Every year, Mr M laments the fact that it has been “too long since he received something nice in stockings”. I find the joke crude, but he has his traditions too I suppose.

Christmas lunch is the epicentre of our day and I like to have a table that is groaning with food and decorated with fresh flowers, greenery and lots of natural materials, such as twigs and fir cones. The children laugh at my festive perfectionism, but all hell breaks loose if they find even the smallest of details has changed.

I feel rather sorry for my daughter-in-law, who will be taking over next year. In modesty, I am something of an act to follow. I have a little notebook I have been keeping for her. Mr M groans every time he sees it come out of my desk drawer. “Leave the girl to do it her way,” he insists, but I fear things could end in tears if the creamed leeks are not cooked to perfection or the goose emerges from the Aga less than crisp.

I muse atop a ladder, as I hang baubles that date back to Victorian times, on whether she will put the Christmas tree in a different place next year. One thing the Minervas are terribly good at is hanging on to old things. I say this to Mr M and he remarks that this should make me feel secure in our marriage. I reward him by ‘accidentally’ dropping a rather pointy star decoration on his head. THE ENGLISH HOME 95

Mrs Minerva Writes...

Christmas is about giving, of course, but I want to be very conscious of what my gifts mean, both to the recipient and the business I am buying them from. It is why I have chosen to buy from smaller companies this time round. All retail outlets have struggled hugely recently, but I feel most strongly for those who have started something up from scratch and really cannot afford any drop in income.

My daughter-in-law – the one who is taking over here – has put me on to all sorts of marvellous small retailers and has introduced me to Etsy. It is rather marvellous for finding small companies selling all sorts of beautiful and creative things. She introduced it to me when masks became mandatory and I found the medical ones made me look like I was pretending to be a veterinary nurse. On Etsy I found some in beautiful vintage Liberty prints and that made the whole thing far more palatable.

I know I am, as the children say, late to the world of the virtual marketplace, but it is truly a treasure trove of lovely things. I have found so many perfect gifts and I know the seller will be as delighted as the receiver.

My cleaner, who is what we used to call a hippie, will be thrilled with her macramé plant-pot hanger. My son will love the outdoor blackboard which he can use to write the menus for the rather grand barbecues he likes to have each weekend throughout the summer. And the dog will love his personalised bed. Also, the nature writer, Emma Mitchell, has opened a rather marvellous Etsy shop under the name Silver Pebble, where she sells beautiful nature-inspired pendants.

Christmas should always be more about giving than receiving, but I am a little hopeful I might get a few nice things for my new home. My son and his wife have been very gracious in telling me I must take anything at all I want, but I do feel much of what we have accumulated over the years belongs to the house itself. I would rather love a new throw for the bed, as the old one has been chewed by more than a few puppies over the years. I would also like something totally frivolous too; perhaps some sparkly earrings or a bright pink collar for the dog.

Whatever I find in my stocking and whatever Christmas miracles and mishaps occur, I will be filling in my gratitude journal every night. If 2020 has taught me anything, it is that the small things really matter. n

Simple and natural, pine cones can be used to add decorative touches to the festive home.

96 THE ENGLISH HOME

FESTIVE ESSENTIALS Mrs M is never without sage advice for buying the perfect gift or preparing the home for the Christmas season SILENT NIGHT

A good night’s sleep is so terribly important to me. As hard as it might be to believe, I can be a little less than temperate if I have been deprived of my full eight hours. This is why I like to give the gift of sleep when I can and the Bamford ‘b Silent’ Sleep Well Box (above) is packed full of the most luxurious sleep aids imaginable: a delicious bath concentrate, a rest-inducing pillow mist, calming organic tea and a white linen eye mask. The set costs £106 and is available at bamford.com

A BALM FOR THE SOUL

Books are always a huge treat. When the children were small, each Christmas Eve they were given a new pair of pyjamas and a book. It is a tradition I still love and my book of choice to give all my book-loving friends will be The Wild Journal: A Year of Nurturing Yourself Through Nature. It is a beautifully illustrated guide from florist and nature writer Willow Crossley that takes one through creative practical projects and therapeutic seasonal reflections. Wherever one lives, there are simple mindful actions – from listening to birdsong to collecting natural treasures such as feathers, branches, pebbles or pine cones. It is published by Pan Macmillan and costs £10.99.

HEART OF THE HOME

Christmas would not be the same without an Aga cooker.

Cooking for a crowd is when ours really comes into its own.

Mine is an ancient one, so I am looking forward to an upgrade when we move. The new models have all sorts of whizzy features, including the option of an induction hob, which I find rather thrilling. There is also a new colour that I have my eye on – British Racing Green, which I think is the perfect choice as it looks super up-to-date, but is actually a reissue from the archive. For more, visit agaliving.com

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THE ENGLISH HOME 97

THE FINAL WORD...

PHOTOGRAPH Š RAY MANN

Whilst Christmas is a time steeped in ritual and tradition, with treasured decorations lovingly brought out each year, it can be nice to ring the changes with something a little different. These oversized mercury silver baubles make quite the impact. Just three hung in a hallway would look impressive, but en masse above the table offers a modern twist on classic Christmas styling. A room with beams offers the best opportunity for replicating this look and the mottled, shiny surfaces offer the perfect foil to a rustic location without being incongruous to the relaxed setting.

Extra Large Mercury Silver Baubles, ÂŁ39.95 each, Nordic House

98 THE ENGLISH HOME

Crewel embroidery kits from beginner to advanced www.crewelwork.com

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