RUSTIC RETREAT
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| AS SEEN IN AUG 2015 ISSUE |
Restoring/Bringing this beautiful period property back to life has been a labour of love for Tina and Martin Philpott. Rediscovering the period charm of this 16th Century farm cottage has been a labour of love for Tina and Martin.
Built around 1550, Tina and
Martin’s Somerset home was originally two farm cottages which were converted
into one house in the 1970’s. The original wash house, once used for stringing
pearls still remains in the grounds of the 2 acre garden, as does the old brick
toilet. Tina now uses the old wash house
as a studio for her wedding flower and chocolate box business and Martin uses
the disused toilet as a garden shed.
Entranced
by the beautifully preserved blue lias flagstone floors, original mullian
windows with seats, natural oak beams and an impressive historic inglenook
fireplace, they put aside their concerns about the neglected condition,
determined to restore it back to its original charm. ‘We hoped that together we
could create a comfortable and beautiful home as a project for our retirement’,
says Tina. Also they were both drawn to the garden which was overgrown and
neglected. ‘When we acquired the field it was full of prize winning stinging
nettles’, says Martin.
From an early age Tina had been drawn to everything
that was old and full of character. ‘I have always believed I was born in
another time’, she says. Having already enjoyed restoring a couple of
properties, she suggested to Martin that it may be a good time to look out for
a new project. ‘This historic stone house was definitely ‘old and interesting’,
says Tina. ‘ It was in quite a bad way in parts and although we knew it was
going to take a lot of time and effort, it would be worth it in the end.’
Still living in their cottage in the
Chiltern Valley they would journey down to Somerset on their days off to work
on the house. The first job was to hire a skip and take up all the carpets. Working
as a team with their good friend Vincent, a builder by trade, they slowly
renovated this beautiful old stone property. ‘We pulled the plasterboard down
together, Martin would then work on filling the walls and Vincent plasteredand
painted, says Tina. One by one, the ceiling plasterboards were taken down,
starting with the one in the guest bathroom exposed ancient natural oak beams.
‘We immediately suspected that underneath all the plasterboard encasing the
rest of the house, we were about to discover the same’, says Tina. Sure enough
the house soon started to open up and come to life. Stripping away the old
décor was hard work but revealing the house’s natural hidden beauty was well
worth it. The beautiful ancient oak beams, some with old markings from previous
carpenters, were such a delightful discovery. In the master bedroom they raised
the horizontal beams, which were individually numbered, upright against the
wall to make a feature of them. Throughout the upstairs old reclaimed
floorboards that were painstakingly sanded and oiled replaced all the chipboard
on the floors. ‘Sanding and oiling all those boards was a labour of love but
well worth doing’, says Tina.
The renovations yielded an unusual and
unexplained incident one day while some plumbing was being done upstairs in one
of the bedrooms. ‘Water started running down the walls in the dining room,’
says Tina, ‘we immediately turned the water off at the mains and checked under
the floor but couldn’t see where the water was coming from.’
Once the kitchen was gutted, Tina
enlisted the skills of a local craftsman who built, fitted and hand painted the
units in cream colour. Integrating a bespoke ceiling to floor larder unit in the
corner of the room has not only added more character to the room but is useful
for extra storage. ‘It looks like it has been here forever,’ says Tina. Knocking through the wall and fitting classic
French doors instantly opened up the kitchen out onto the terrace and
subsequently created a light filled family space. The small floor tiles were
not in keeping with the period of the property and were replaced with Terracotta
tiles throughout the scullery and kitchen, and their good friend Vinney built the
plinth for the Butler sink and plumbed it in. ‘I had some stonework added
around the door frame to compliment the stonework surrounding the original back
door opposite, ’says Tina. ‘ I have spent a lot of time over the years learning
to create an ambience through taking time over detail. It is possible to create
a beautiful and welcoming home on a limited budget.’ Tina loves collecting
pieces of furniture, antiques and collectibles. She enjoys creating atmospheres
in each room, for example the simple collection of terracotta plant pots,
vintage wicker baskets and beautiful French linen cushion covers in the garden
room. Her attention to detail is impeccable and fresh flowers and candles in
stone urns, planters and holders adorn each room. ‘Our home is full of
beautiful and interesting collectable junk,’ says Tina, ‘ I love it.’
There is a
definite French influence throughout the house. The rich colours of the walls,
some painted in Farrow&Ball’s ‘Orangery’, are a backdrop to the neutral
tones of much of the furniture, such as the built in larder cupboard in the
kitchen and the stone table in the drawing room. Tina had the French rattan
sofa and chairs in the drawing room repholsterd using a soft gold silk. ‘I tend
to use chalk paint when upcycling furniture because it is easy and gets the
natural effect that I like’, says Tina.
The occasional table in the kitchen was painted in a stone colour from
Annie Sloan range and then distressed with sandpaper.
Having lived
in this beautiful house for nearly 12 years, Tina and Martin have created a
unique, beautiful and comfortable home. They love it in the summer when the
roses bloom and the wild meadow is full of cow parsley, poppies and heady
scented lavender. ‘I love wandering through the meadow on a balmy summer
evening enjoying the peace and tranquillity’ says Tina ‘at the far end of the
meadow is our wonderful summer house, which we call Skip Hall! This was built
from the entire contents of a neighbours skip,’ The house is constantly
evolving and changing because Tina is always moving things around adding
new pieces of furniture, flower arrangements and reorganising her much loved treasured collectables.
Tips
Don’t be
afraid to move things around from room to room
A project,
whether large or small is achievable on a budget! It’s not always about how much money you spend
but is more about how much time and input you are prepared /able to invest in
it. It is possible to create unique spaces
and fill them with beautiful things on a budget! Get creative!
Try to source the original piece of furniture or have
something made from scratch ie reclaimed materials as these will stand the test
of time, look authentic and be a great backdrop to other less expensive
curiosities or items of interest. For example, the country style kitchen table
was made up from old oak floorboards reclaimed from a local school. The
inexpensive wired planter filled with heavenly scented flowers fills the room
with scent and immediately creates an individual and stunning table setting. Having
made a complete summerhouse out of reclaimed timber and materials from an
entire skip, proved cost effective and provides the garden with an sense of
individuality and fun. Mexican Chimeneas can be found for as little as £50 The
Rattan Garden furniture, umbrellas lamps, baskets and trellis can be sourced
cheaply online, on sites such as Ebay and Gumtree.
Stockists
Angie at Cottage
flowers 01460 53020
cottageflowersandmore.co.uk (Please include)
Vincent Carn
(Builder) at Character Restorations 01460 75510 / 07887 624778 (Please include)
Susan at La
Fleure Antiques 01458 253209
(Please include)
Wessex
Antique Beds 01935 829147 wessexbeds.co.uk
Lulu Guinness
0843 208 0177 luluguinness.com
Derek Stacey
Antiques Somerton 01458 273
376 Please include
Laura Ashley 03332 008 009 lauraashley.com
Homebase 0345 077 8888 homebase.co.uk
Hammerite 0333 222 7171 hammerite.co.uk
Farrow&Ball 01202 876141
farrow-ball.com
Annie Sloan 01865 803 168 anniesloan.co.uk
Wells
Reclamation Yard 01749
677087 wellsreclamation.com/
Special Thank you to Tina and Martin
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