Future-proofing, preservation and a break with formality: Reinventing the English country house
A new generation of country house owners means changing tastes. Arabella Youens finds out what really matters to a younger cohort of homeowner.
For generations in Britain, moving to the countryside with a young family has been both a rite of passage and a mark of success. Outside observers find it curious and somewhat enviable. Several years ago, the Editor of Country Life was asked at the Japanese embassy in London to explain the very different attitudes the two countries had to rural living. While the Japanese flock to the cities of Tokyo and Osaka, they questioned why, in the UK, a move to the countryside is seen as aspirational. The answer was simple, he replied: both the countryside and the desire to live in it are in the nation’s DNA.
While the phenomenon continues, there is a subtle but noticeable shift in how families live in these houses. The changes are less a rejection of the historic English country house tradition and more a different perspective on what the house is expected to do. Today’s younger owners focus on preserving the property's character while gently bringing it into the 21st century and making it more suitable for family living.
Touches of leopard print and armchairs in tobacco-coloured linen and a sisal carpet prevent the rose-pink drawing room from being too saccharine or hostage to one decorative period.
Dispensing with drink coasters
Chief among these changes is a loosening of formality: today, the house is a home first and foremost, not a showpiece. While older generations maintained a distinction between formal rooms and private life, younger owners are much more likely to want the whole house to work around family life and informal entertaining. Today, a dining room doubles as a home office, no child (nor dog) is banned from the drawing room, cocktail bars are built into the joinery and fewer surfaces need drink coasters. Comfort and ease are key; decorating is less about statement-making and more about being welcoming.
Social spaces
Kitchens have borne witness to some of the most noticeable changes. Once a purely functional space, it has morphed into an all-in-one living, eating and relaxing room and the social hub of the home. While the fashion for vast open-plan spaces seems to have peaked, younger owners increasingly appreciate smaller dedicated rooms because each can have its own atmosphere and function. Life is busy and a sense of order and a place for everything is important. Into the list of desirables has moved a connection to the garden — or, even better, a kitchen garden.
By introducing whitewashed beams, a chimneypiece and simple country furniture and antiques, this breakfast room feels less like an extension and more like a room that has always been part of the house.
Provenance and craftsmanship
Decoratively, there has been a move towards a more eclectic and personal style: one that feels immediately settled, even if things have been acquired recently. Moving away from being historically faithful to one period, a room might have a chair inherited from a grandmother, a painting bought on holiday or an antique found at auction, which all sit alongside a brand-new George Smith sofa. There is a clear desire to invest in interior architecture where modern joinery is made using traditional methods and craftsmanship. Colour and pattern are used in a bold, almost theatrical way (see Blythe Collinson).
An eye on energy
Sustainability is an important consideration: heat pumps, solar panels, electric charging points and good glazing — anything that will bring down the reliance on fossil fuels. While older generations might have been more concerned about preserving the building, the focus today is on respecting the architecture and reducing its environmental footprint. Estate agents routinely prepare documents detailing how much a house will cost to run; it’s a question nearly every buyer now asks. Energy prices have played a part. Heating a large and poorly insulated country house in the 1980s cost roughly £3,500 to £8,500 a year in today’s money; today the same house might cost tens of thousands.
Boot rooms have been elevated from utility areas to rooms with a dedicated space for everything. Here, the joinery was designed by Guild Anderson and painted in Little Green’s ‘Light Bronze Green’.
Country Life panel discussion
These topics and many more will be the subject of a Country Life reader event taking place at Daylesford, near Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, on Friday, October 2. The panel will feature interior designer Nicole Salvesen, co-founder of Salvesen Graham; Cirencester-based architect Ross Sharpe of Yiangou; Edward Smith of family-run British stone specialists Artorius Faber; Greg Tirri of the construction firm RW Armstrong; and Andrew Petherwick of cabinet makers Guild Anderson, who are based in Tisbury, Wiltshire.
Moderated by Country Life’s interiors editor Giles Kime, the panellists will discuss their perceptions and views on how the country house is being reinvented for the 21st century. The event runs from 11 am to 2 pm in the Heritage Barn and includes lunch as well as an opportunity to seek advice from the experts.
To book, telephone 01608 692871 or visit the Reinventing the Country House event page on the Daylesford website.
