A graceful Georgian rectory set in five acres of gentle Gloucestershire landscape
All sorts of qualities might attract a potential buyer to a house: location, size, history, design – the list goes on. For designer Lesley Cooke, it was the shape of her 18th-century eight-bedroom Georgian house that captivated her. Built in 1788 for the local vicar amid five acres of gentle Gloucestershire landscape, the old Cotswold stone rectory had a graceful symmetry that appealed deeply, as well as an “incredible” light in all of its high-ceilinged rooms. Viewing the house after it had received its instruction but before it went on the market, while looking for somewhere to move to from her Kensington flat, she decided to strip it right back “all the way down the stone walls”, and redecorate from scratch.
“Everything was completely redone,” recalls Lesley, who moved in in 2010. The result is a bright, elegant cube of a house with modernised interiors that nonetheless respect its history, and a glorious new kitchen annex – once the stable block – ingeniously integrated with the adjacent main building. Outside, the rectory is handsome and ordered; inside, it is gently up to date and subtly stylish.
The key to this ambitious building scheme was the existing floorplan. The rectory’s Grade II listing meant that it would have been nigh on impossible to significantly alter the building’s footprint; luckily, previous owners had built a small ground-floor kitchen that linked the main house to the stable block (when Lesley first saw it, this block was used as a staff flat). She converted the old kitchen into a butler’s pantry, and turned the old flat into her own huge, bright kitchen, creating a flowing space from the living room through the pantry to the kitchen. The rest of the house remained untouched: there are still four rooms on each floor, and it retains a rectilinear, almost neoclassical simplicity. “It’s quite austere,” Lesley says. “There’s nothing elaborate or ornate, it’s almost minimalist.” That, of course, was the appeal. “I’ve been through a lot of country houses that you need a map to get through.”
The whole process took two and a half years (Lesley did some of the work in the Bahamas while pinned down by a tropical storm, drawing up plans for the house and faxing them to her architect back in the UK). With a background rooted in landscape and garden design, she approached the task of renovation with the practical attitude of someone used to doing lots and lots of foundational legwork for a project. In landscape design, Lesley explains, 95 per cent of any job is planning the layout and ground of the garden, while only a small fraction involves the actual planting. She took the same approach to her house – paying major attention to the building’s footprint, as well as meticulously planning where plug sockets and light switches would go, was key before she would let herself start choosing finishes and moving furniture in. “If you don't have all of that information documented, you're finished.”
Thanks to this level of attention to detail, the body of the house and its interiors are wonderfully coherent. The term “neo-Georgian”springs to mind – there’s a deep and abiding respect for history that is reflected in the furniture, upholstery, wallpaper and fittings. From chinoiserie de Gournay wallpaper in the bedrooms and dining room to Chinese lamps in the hallway, for example, the house offers a sly nod to the 18th-century taste for Chinese aesthetics. Lesley preferred to stick to clean, straight lines in furnishings – in the four-poster beds, in tables and chairs and even in the tightly kept Leylandii hedges around the pool – to stay in keeping with the loose design principles of the period. And she chose to limit herself to a relatively conservative palette dominated by pale greens and powder blues, not to deliberately mimic period interiors so much as to ensure her rooms gelled well with the house’s feel. “You take your cues from the architecture,” she explains, “inside and out.”
Mixed in with the older furniture are more modern pieces where appropriate or necessary (“There are no Georgian coffee tables,” Lesley notes as an example). A pair of ornate glass lanterns repurposed from a French town hall made their way into one of the reception rooms; unwired, they hold candles that Lesley and her husband light in the evenings and extinguish with a long snuffer. In the master bathroom (one of ten between the house, annex and poolhouse), the freestanding black marble bath was inspired by 1920s modernism, the contemporary style when many large country houses first had indoor plumbing installed. Antiques of various provenance have made their way into the house courtesy of the auction houses in nearby Tetbury, as well as Lesley’s various trips to Christie’s South Kensington outpost over the years.
Lesley’s personal office is the old Parish Room, where parishioners would once have come to talk to their spiritual counsellor in private, without disturbing his family. Now, it is where she masterminds renovations and design schemes for her clients. It’s just one small reminder that anyone who takes on a historic, storied house like hers is, ultimately, only passing through as its custodian. Nonetheless, she has refreshed her home with the care it deserves. “We got the house we wanted,” she says. “It’s a joy to live in.”
Paul Massey1/13The glass chandelier in the drawing room is reclaimed from a town hall in Lyon in France; it matches one in the dining room. The sofas and chairs are by Kingcome and the painting above the original, restored fireplace is by Nicholas Jones. The mirror was sourced from Guinevere Antiques on the King’s Road.
Paul Massey2/13The nickel-plated hanging lamp is one of two from Phillips and Wood, London. The pew was sourced in an antiques market in Tetbury.
Paul Massey3/13Lesley designed the library’s chandelier and had it made in Murano, Venice. Her husband made the harpsichord himself. They sourced the grandfather clock in France and brought it back to the UK on top of their car. The chairs are by George Smith.
Paul Massey4/13The pendant lampshade in carved alabaster was sourced from a building in Knightsbridge. The table is a French farmhouse table from an antiques shop in Tetbury, while the chairs were bought at auction in London. The marble-topped island was custom designed by Lesley. The tiles on the floor are antique French terracotta, in reference to the kitchen wing’s original equestrian use as a stable and coach house. On the wall is an old wooden pub sign, and above the doorway are two Bristol ware plates.
Paul Massey5/13This space was a black-and-pink bathroom suite when Lesley bought the house; it is the centre window in the five-bay run of windows across the first floor. The table was bought at auction in London. The papier maché horse is an antique toy belonging to Lesley’s daughter when she was a child. The Palm Tree and Monkey wall lights are by Richard Taylor Lighting.
Paul Massey6/13The lamps are from Peter Jones. The bed is a Vietnamese bed and the frames on the wall hold antique shell prints. The seat is from the Marché aux Puces flea market in Clingancourt, Paris, reupholstered in Colefax & Fowler ‘Bowood’ to match the wallpaper and curtains.
Paul Massey7/13The wallpaper is Colefax & Fowler ‘Bowood’ (“I have used this paper in every house I have ever done,” Lesley confides). The writing table is from Lorfords Antiques, the lamp shades are by Svenkst Tenn, Stockholm. The chair is one of a set bought at auction in London.
Paul Massey8/13The bed linens are from Cologne & Cotton. The beds themselves are shaker beds modified to fit under the eaves – Lesley cut the two posters down to fit them into the room.
Paul Massey9/13The antique nursing chair was bought in Fulham, upholstered in the now-discontinued Colefax & Fowler ‘Climbing Geranium’ (“One of my favourites,” Lesley says). Lesley chose the printed linen for the curtains and headboard – ‘Battle Great Wood’ from Lindsay Alker Fabrics – to go with the chair.
Paul Massey10/13The wallpaper is De Gournay ‘Portobello’ on custom blue painted silk. The bed is an antique white lacquer bed.
Paul Massey11/13The table is from The Chelsea Gardener. Lesley laid out the terrace and planted the trees and hedge. There is a rill around the edge which is fed by a waterfall at the rear or the terrace.
Paul Massey12/13The model ship is an early 19th-century Ten Rater-class racing yacht from Lorfords in Tetbury. The sofa is a Conran sofa with loose covers in fabric from Perennials and Sutherland Studio. The cushions are covered in Pierre Frey ‘Florida’ fabric. In the floor is a pebble mosaic.
Paul Massey13/13Lesley resurfaced the existing pool and added decking, stone coping and the stone and steel waterfall. The gate is her own design.
