Love green? The Newt’s Hadspen House hotel did it first…
Bare brick and floral wallpaper at Babington House, Somerset
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COUNTRY HOMES & INTERIORS
owner and designer. ‘My inspiration was the beautiful manor house and working outbuildings, such as the stables, coach house and laundry.’ The much admired drawing room at Hadspen House, the main building on The Newt’s estate, perfectly showcases Karen’s skill for blending the old with the innovative. Contemporary velvet tub chairs and modern taxidermy rendered in patchwork fabric sit alongside lofty portraits of former owners. The scheme is tied together with a fresh celadon green, not an uncommon colour to see in the countryside, and used over all woodwork and panelling here to striking effect. ‘I invariably end up with a few green rooms,’ says Karen. ‘It helps to hold together old and new furniture, and perhaps links everything back to nature.’ Reflecting the trend towards indoor-outdoor living, the house’s courtyard has been covered over with glass, creating a solarium dining space peppered with potted
