Tour an 18th-Century English Farmhouse With Pattern and Color in Every Room
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After living in Paris, Miami, New York, and London, Jason and Amanda Howard were ready for a more pastoral life. In recent years, the couple had rented a weekend cottage in Wiltshire, a corner of southern England known for its “chalk downs”—rolling limestone hills—and grew very fond of its quiet beauty. They also enjoyed the easy two-hour drive from London, where their two kids went to school. Once their youngest left for university in 2020, they decided to move to Wiltshire permanently, and began looking for a property with enough space to host family and friends. “I always wanted to live in the country,” says Amanda, a former model who used to travel the world on assignments with Ralph Lauren, Givenchy, and Armani.
During their search, Amanda and her husband, a reinsurance executive, heard about an old farmhouse whose owner was open to selling but did not want to deal with any real estate agents. The owner also did not want to let anyone inside, on account of the pandemic. The Howards took a look at the exterior of the house, an 18th-century redbrick construction with sash windows and Dutch gables, then walked around the grounds—a vast green field with views for miles—and decided to make an offer on the spot. “It was a dream,” says Amanda. “The location and the land were just beautiful.”
Even without having set foot inside, the couple knew there would be renovations involved: Someone had to build their dream kitchen, the one where they envisioned cooking elaborate Sunday roasts. They called Sarah Vanrenen, an interior designer known for reviving historic homes with creative color palettes and layered textiles. Vanrenen and her design partner, Lauran Hanbury, work out of a studio in the town of Hungerford, just 15 minutes away from the Howards’s newly purchased farmhouse.
When the new owners were finally able to set foot inside, they found a tired aesthetic, yet they also saw a 9,000-square-foot layout with plenty of possibilities. There were two annexes built around 1990, one as an indoor pool pavilion and the other as a garden room, or conservatory, which the designers identified as the ideal spot to create a spacious modern kitchen. “We completely knocked down the conservatory and rebuilt the kitchen structure along with a large boot room, pantry, and laundry room,” says Vanrenen. “The old kitchen was made into a prep space for the client, who is not only the most glamorous but also incredible cook, and along with her husband make the most generous hosts in the area.”
Elsewhere, the renovations were just as transformative. Except for the main entrance hall and the placement of certain rooms, which stayed the same, the designers reimagined the whole home, repositioning doorways, adding fireplaces, closets, and new finishes. To create character in the dining room, the design team installed paneling on the lower walls, built a faux fireplace with a marble mantle, installed a “wacky” wallpaper featuring big strawberries and vines, and painted the ceiling a glossy orange hue from Edward Bulmer. “The orange gloss was way out of my and my husband’s comfort zone,” says Amanda. “But my goodness, when the candles are on it looks stunning at night.”
While honoring her clients’ rather traditional style, Vanrenen pushed them in more daring directions a couple of times. In the primary suite, for example, the couple wanted an upholstered canopy above the bed and had some antiques they wanted to use. So the designer added a wallpaper and rug with bold geometric patterns in lime and moss green to keep the room from looking “fuddy-duddy.” A similar approach is seen in the main living room, where Vanrenen, who has her own line fabrics and wallpapers, juxtaposed a multiplicity of textiles, from classic floral patterns to strong stripes and exotic embroideries.
After finishing the project, Vanrenen received one the highest compliments a designer can ever get: an invitation to stay over. “We have become really good friends,” she says. “It was so wonderful to actually experience what other guests experience.”
1/13Jason and Amanda Howard, a British couple who had lived all over the world, found a permanent home among the limestone hills of Wiltshire in southwest England, in this farmhouse from the late 1700s. The property was expanded in 1990 with a new pool pavilion and garden room, seen to the left of the original redbrick construction, which features Dutch gables and sash windows.
2/13In the dining room, Vanrenen had to convince her clients to go with this bold orange ceiling paint from Edward Bulmer, and a wallpaper with big flowers by Jennifer Shorto. A deep green hue from Papers and Paint, seen in the paneling and frames, completes the striking look.
3/13A cozy yet striking bar, or drinks cupboard, as they call it in the UK, sits right outside the dining room. The cherry red mosaic-patterned wallpaper is Sarah Vanrenen’s Diamond. To the right hangs a Clandon Storm wall sconce by Vaughan.
4/13This family room is part of the ample open kitchen built inside the former conservatory, with new windows and a new fireplace. The sofa, armchairs, and custom-made ottoman were all covered in Saran Vanrenen fabrics. The jute rug was custom made.
5/13The cream-hued kitchen island was paired with red barstools from Normann Copenhagen. To the left is a custom kitchen dresser displaying the clients’ collection of crockery and glasses, painted in Majolica Green from Papers and Paints.
6/13In the boot room, Vanrenen and Hanbury reused the old York flagstones that covered the floors of the property’s conservatory. The table and ceiling pendant are antique.
7/13A sunny yellow called Chinese Emperor, from Paint & Paper Library, covers the laundry. The wall sconces are from Holloways of Ludlow.
8/13The client, Amanda Howard, found this four-poster bed at an auction around the time she and her husband bought the house. Vanrenen mixed and matched a series of colors and textiles to prevent the room from looking too “fuddy-duddy.” The white ceramic lamps have green lampshades by Sarah Vanrenen.
9/13Bright green, dusty pink, and burgundy red hues make up the whimsical palette in this guest bathroom. The wallpaper is from Adam Bray; the tiles were imported from Morocco.
10/13This powder room features a floral wallpaper from Warner House called Hampton Old Rose, and a locally sourced antique vanity. The curtains were made with Prėt a Vivre linen called Bruges with a Schumacher trim.
11/13“Upstairs we took out a utility room to make the new dressing room for Amanda’s husband Jason and made a secret door into the guest bathroom behind it,” says Vanrenen. The Volpi wallpaper is from Quadrille Fabrics and the door and trim paint is Edward Bulmer’s Vert de Mer.
12/13Another guest bedroom, with uplifting yellows and soothing blues. The curtains are made with Romo’s Eston striped blue cotton, and the bedskirt with Nicholas Herbet’s Strapwork blue linen.
13/13A dark green Bannister Hall wallpaper covers another bathroom in the highly patterned home.
