2019-08-01_25_Beautiful_Homes

25bh | country

O

ver the centuries, as the needs of its occupants have

changed, Annabel Playfair’s home has gone through

many modifications. Originally a small two-bedroom

farmhouse, it was extended in Georgian times and

again in the Victorian era. When Annabel arrived with her young

son in 1995, the house was a maze of dark rooms and passages, with

a jumble of farm buildings outside. And, as Annabel’s family grew

with the arrival of triplets, her desire to reconfigure the space began.

‘We wanted to bring in light and a feeling of openness,’ she says.

‘One way was to remove the dark stain from the beams and paint

them a pale colour but when we stripped them, we found the

original soft grey tone applied some 200 years ago.’ The family were

KITCHEN-DINER

Annabel painted the farm

animals above the Aga.

The French ceramic rise and

fall pendant light, £223,

Holloways of Ludlow, would

work here. Try the Dorchester

kitchen chairs, £240 a pair,

The Cotswold Company

favourite item ‘The kitchen table

from a large country house; we lowered the

84 | 25bh AUGUST 2019