Project Name: Cotswold Manor

Location: Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Date Completed: September 2019

Interior Designer: Pippa Paton Design Limited

Architect: Pippa Paton Design Limited

Construction Company: Drew Warren Building Contractor

Pippa Paton Design Limited were enlisted for a complete renovation of a Grade II listed Cotswold manor house, untouched for almost 50 years. The brief was to create a 21st century home in style and functionality, capable of hosting large family gatherings, whilst celebrating the building’s history and fabric and the owners’ love of wood.

The overall approach for Pippa Paton Design was to enhance the beauty of historic materials and vistas through design simplicity, introducing contemporary materials fused with textural layers alongside a softly neutral palette. White walls and neutral-toned furnishings provide a backdrop, with timber used for most joinery, furniture and flooring.

To create light, airy, contemporary spaces, Pippa Paton Design removed walls to ease circulation, ceilings were vaulted to create a sense of space and new lighting with controls were introduced. Historic panelling in the principal reception rooms, darkened over time, was restored to its original honey colour. Flagstone and parquet flooring were stripped and hand-waxed to lighten.

By amalgamating three bedrooms and removing an upper-floor bedroom, Pippa Paton Design create a substantial double-height master suite with a stunning alabaster sculpture as its focal point, the suite incorporates the bedroom, an ensuite, a dressing room, a sitting area, a library and a glass-floored, mezzanine-level study, all with spectacular views of the garden. The remarkable glass-floored mezzanine minimises visual interruption to the vaulted space created.

Throughout the house, niches, furniture and other opportunities have been created to display sculpture and artefacts; e.g. pivoting walls in the Gallery allow sculptures to be displayed and prominence altered easily.

One of the key aspects of this project was the enhancement of the original parts of the building. It was a true delight for Pippa Paton Design to see the historic fabric, such as the panelling, the stone and parquet flooring, and the stone windows, be bought back to its original finish through renovation, allowing its beauty to shine through.

The spaces created and the overall design has enabled the history of the property to be exposed which, fused with contemporary materials and high-end fittings, provide a sublime family home with all the 21st century functionality desired whilst embracing the spectacular views.