The only thing better than a stately home is a stately home in wooden miniature

George Barham started woodcarving when he was about eight years old. ‘It was only a hobby,’ he says, ‘but it’s now grown into a part-time business.’

Now in his early thirties, he returned to his farm in Kent after an overseas deployment with the Army where he was a captain in the Royal Yeomanry, and found he had ‘lots of spare time, so produced an oak replica of my dad’s family home for his 60th birthday, which now sits in our hallway. Every time we have guests around for lunch, they make a point of asking where to order something similar and my portfolio basically grew from there.’

Largely self-taught, George honed his skills by watching YouTube videos and drawing on his university qualification in mechanical engineering — which earned him a more technical understanding about how things are made.

His architectural woodcarvings cost about £2,500 apiece — more if the building he’s replicating is complex or has a dome. George first conceived of his work as purely ornamental, but found the products could be used ‘as boxes or pencil cases’, too. The majority of his commissions are for stately and family homes, but he's also produced a letter-writing stand and the façade of Boodles. 'My sister married a guy who grew up in the Netherlands,' he says. 'I made them bookends for their wedding gift in the shape of Amsterdam house façades chiseled into oak.' However: ‘The carving of Chevening House (above) in Kent is my favourite.'

And as for the future? ‘I’d love to do so at a trade fair. I’m a member of Historic Houses and they hold a trade fair on the top floor of the building during their AGM. I’d love to present my work there.'