English Country House Style

Imagine a grand family home in a rural setting.  This house was built centuries ago in the fashionable style of the day (Renaissance, Palladian, Baroque…) and has been handed down from one generation of the same family to the next. At times of flourishing family fortunes, renovations and additions in newer styles have been commissioned.  

This time-travelling vessel conveys furniture of the finest quality, collected by great-greats, greats, and grands, and only replaced with ‘new' when thoroughly decrepit or threadbare.

Over time, art and decorative objects have been added, collections created.  Today the house is a mix of styles, a bit faded here-and-there, and not at all precious: the epitome of timeless comfort.  It tells the story of an established family with lineage, heritage, reputation…and the odd skeleton-stuffed closet. 

An interior by style master Robert Kime

The beloved family home described above is the essence of English Country House style. Look to ‘The Crown’ (early episodes), ‘Atonement’, ‘A Room With A View’, 'Brideshead Revisited', ‘Downton Abbey’, and any Jane Austen adaptation for sumptuous visual references.  

English Country House style is a great investment, it never dates - it is wilfully oblivious to trends and fashions. It is supremely Green, it reuses, repairs, supports local artisans, buys second-hand, makes-do-and-mends, and thinks in terms of dynasties - planning not for now but for future generations.  

Creating such a jumble from scratch could be overwhelming to contemplate: if you don’t start with a Vanbrugh estate and some Meissen, where do you start?

Well, the good news is, the components of this style can be isolated and identified. 

The companion fragrance for this week’s style voyage is True Grace’s ‘Library’ - think motes of dust suspended in sunbeams, scholarly corners, centuries of woodsmoke, and burnished antique furniture.

Meanwhile, Alexa: play Elgar...throw in some Cole Porter (a nod to the American heiress who saved the family bacon in the early 20th century)...let’s take a closer look at English Country House style. 

Key Defining Characteristics:

•  Antique Furnishings: Pieces with a sense of history, from well-loved wooden tables to ornate gilt mirrors, remembering that quintessential English Country House style involves a collection created over centuries as a result of buying high-quality and fine examples of the contemporary style of the day.

A Colefax & Fowler chintz fabric

•  Mixed Patterns: The recipe of textiles associated with the style is well-established: take a busy, large-scale and colourful floral chintz, add in checks or plaid/stripes, and self-coloured damask in cotton and silk blend fibres. Wait, there's more: don't forget hard-wearing canvas-style linen weaves and woollen fabrics, ‘dobby’ weaves (small raised spots) and tiny sprig patterns.  Assemble a great variety of pattern of different scales, very large to very small, a clashing riot. 

The Sargeant sofa by Max Rollitt

•  Sumptuous Soft Furnishings: Overstuffed sofas sit next to aged armchairs shrouded in fit-where-they-touch (oops, sorry) made-to-measure loose covers hiding a multitude of sins. Apply a liberal smattering of plump tapestry and velvet cushions, bristling with trimmings. Draughts from rattling windows are stilled and stifled by heavy interlined curtains or drapes. Where most styles require just one textile per installation, in English Country House style more is more: an armchair might have one large-scale, patterned face fabric, with a second (smaller repeat or stripe) upholstering the back and/or sides.  Window treatments - e.g. swags and tails - also demand a second fabric, a ‘show lining’, that alternates with the face fabric as the swags cascade downwards, and not forgetting to add decorative fringe or trim too. 

A Samuel & Sons bullion fringe - often used to create a floor-length skirt around an otherwise 'leggy' sofa, chair or ottoman

•  Traditional textile trims: The traditional textile trimmings used to frame cushions, to edge curtains and upholstery are also known as ‘passementerie’, these include deep bullion fringes, key tassels, cords and ropes, fringes, gimps and noisettes! These can be made-to-order in custom-coloured threads.  
•  Traditional rugs from France, the Middle and the Far East: Many designers launch the colour scheme for their English Country House with inspiration from an antique rug: a Savonnerie or Aubusson for a pretty bedroom or morning room; or a Bakhtiari, Oushak, or Tabriz for a more serious room, or for a more masculine look.  

An Oushak carpet from Robert Kime

 Colour Usage:

•  Honestly, anything goes, remembering that, when first painted, your ancestors’ home was probably decorated in the most vibrant pigments available: these colours look tired and dirty now because of the passage of time.  That’s why, when creating English Country House style from scratch, it's customary to order new paint in tired and dirty colours.  
•  Having said anything goes, perhaps wander loosely in the direction of a harmony, a colour theme, however the style forgives the odd eccentric choice (made by the odd eccentric relative).  

A hand-blocked chintz by Jean Munro

• The palette for a room might be inspired by a key fabric - maybe the chintz chosen for the sofa or curtains, or a rug or tapestry will suggest colours for the room.  In reception rooms you might find more serious colours: deep greens, rich reds, ambers or yellows.  In bedrooms or secondary sitting rooms (particularly in more rural, less formal locations) soft pastels are common.  Certain colours were fashionable at different times, e.g. see John Soane's yellow drawing room - a popular Regency colour.  
• Every now and then English Country House style throws out a style offshoot.  In the 1950s-90s English society darling David Hicks updated many a stately pile with saturated contemporary colours: oranges, magentas and cerulean blues juxtaposed against pure gloss white. Today his signature dazzling geometric patterns - and his style - inspire contemporary designers like Jonathan Adler.  And as I write, in the UK, designers like Ben Pentreath and Luke Edward Hall update - sometimes even drench - traditional homes with brilliant, contemporary jewel colours, introducing whimsical and witty artefacts and creating interiors with an irreverent injection of fun and frivolity.   

 Current Practitioners/Designers:

•  Robert Kime: Sadly recently deceased but with his successful practice moving forward in safe hands, Robert Kime was interior designer to King Charles at both Clarence House and Highgrove House. 

Bedroom by Robert Kime

•  Ben Pentreath: Draws from historical inspiration to craft interiors that are timeless and yet include contemporary colour and detailing, Ben Pentreath creates light-hearted and deeply tasteful interiors that stand the test of time. Interior designer to the Prince and Princes of Wales at Kensington Palace, and in their country retreat, Anmer Hall. 
•  Rita Konig: the daughter of Nina-pillar-of-the-design-establishment-Campbell, Rita Konig’s confident, colourful interiors with clever detailing and feminine touches are popular in both the USA and the UK. Darling of the drinks trolley and the cabin bed. 
• Carlos Garcia: his own home seen on instagram (instagram links below) is a textbook example of the style
• Emma Burns: no review of English Country House style would be complete without stopping by the interior design practice 'Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler'. Emma Burns' work is human-scale, true to the principles of the style and often in cosier settings.  

Iconic Pieces:

•  Credenzas, commodes, davenports, indiscreets, canterburies, and what-nots - items of furniture with compelling and intriguing names that give absolutely nothing away.  

A 'Howard' style sofa by the Sofa and Chair Company

•  The Howard Sofa: a stalwart of the English Country House drawing room, named after the company that popularised the style, having revolutionised comfort by introducing coiled springs and sumptuous stuffings. On the subject of upholstery I have to drop a mention of George Smith, George Sherlock, and Max Rollitt. 
•  Swags And Tails: out of fashion right now (for most English Country Home interiors) but bound to come round again in due course

Curtains in damask by Colefax and Fowler, illustrating the show-lining required for swagged draperies, trimmed with tassel fringe.  

Side table: @howelondon Antique chairs: @adamcbentley Rug: @adamcbentley Stylist: @alyce.taylor.studio Photographer: @horwoodphoto Location: @keythorpe_hall

•  Canopy or 4-poster Beds: Beds with tall posts, a fabric-draped frame, and with fabric-lined 'sunburst' or pleated interior ceilings (see the interior upholstery of the Robert Kime 4-poster shown above).

 Materials:

• Depending on which part of the New World was being plundered when your ancestors went shopping, woods like oak, fruitwood, walnut, and mahogany often feature in furniture. Certain timbers are more correct for certain period styles of furniture…for example, if it was made in 1780 it probably should be mahogany. Antique wooden furniture naturally builds up a patina (a rich, deep burnished surface) over time, some very fine pieces may have a French polish surface: modern lacquers and plasticised glossy surfaces should be avoided at all costs.     

A club fender by Acres Farm Fenders

• Fabrics like wool, tweed, silk, and cotton for upholstery and drapes. Leather for club fenders, folding screens, and tub chairs. Silk is vulnerable to sunlight, eventually it will disintegrate, so for an authentic look consider pre-rotted silk (Ed - is this a joke?).  
• In grand houses what appears to be wallpaper might actually be fabric, this was often sewn together in multiple drops to line the interior of a room - stretched over wooden battens to make taut fabric walling.  In the grandest palaces silk damask was used on walls and at windows (see the Colefax and Fowler curtain image above).    
• Accents in brass, porcelain, crystal, and silver, as well as gold leaf applied to picture and mirror frames and to some furniture. 
• Lantern and chandelier styles mimic historical pieces originally set with candles, these inspire current lighting designers such as Vaughan, Charles Edwards, and Tindle. 

The 'Kington' chandelier by Vaughan Designs

• Flooring in stone, traditional tile, or wood, and strewn with ancient (sometimes threadbare) unfitted rugs and carpets. 
• Where carpet is fitted, this again is as a base for rugs and loose carpets - it might appear to be a natural matting such as coir or seagrass (kinder, warmer, more resilient materials are available as alternatives to scratchy plant fibres).   

 Instagram Accounts:

• @benpentreath
• @ritakonig
• @carlosgarciainteriors 
• @lukeedwardhall
• @bibleofbritishtaste - it occurs, rather too late, that I needn't have written this blog, I could instead have linked to this fabulous account - doh!
• @robertkime
• @sibylcolefax 
• @ashleyhicks1970 - to view the work of his father (David Hicks)

 DIY Tips for Achieving the English Country House Look:

•  Embrace Imperfections: Weathered paint, distressed furniture, and aged fabrics add character.
•  Mix & Match: Don't be afraid to combine patterns, textures, and periods. Try to make a mix of furniture of different visual ‘weight’, for example some furniture that makes contact with the ground at all points (sofas with skirts or bullion fringes, or chests with flat bottoms), and other furniture elevated on legs of varying fragility.  Don’t create schemes of exclusively lumpy, or dainty pieces, mix it up!  Also, introduce curves and curlicues alongside more rectilinear forms. Combine gilt furniture with painted furniture with wooden furniture.  As long as every item is a good, true, and honest example of its time of manufacture, it’ll fit right in.   

Gainsborough - weaving bespoke fabrics using traditional methods, stunning silk damasks shown above...look at those colours!

•  Incorporate Nature: Fresh flowers and living plants in ornate vases, pots, or simple pitchers.
•  Layer Textures and scale of pattern: Mix velvets, wools, cotton, silk and leather for a cosy and rich feel, ensure some pattern repeats are large (around or upwards of 1m or 3 feet) where others are tiny (1/2” or 1cm, or less). In English Country House style you need to be fearless when it comes to pattern: a small repeat can look strident viewed on your desk, but totally lost viewed on a large sofa at 20 paces.  
•  Antique Hunting: Visit antique shops, online markets, or flea markets for one-of-a-kind pieces.
•  Practise Safe Sourcing: Woodworm, moths and fleas? Worse? Be careful what you bring into your home when buying second-hand, be vigilant and take precautions against infestations! 

True English Country House style is the work of generations and can’t be rushed.  It is a dance between opulence and simplicity, modernity and antiquity, dishevelment and ruin. It doesn't take itself too seriously, it is endlessly forgiving of dogs, mud, spills, blood and tears, it invites you into a world where every corner tells a story, and every room has a patina of history.