My Houzz: Dinosaurs and Fun Collectibles in a Cotswolds Farmhouse
A creative English couple have jazzed up their cozy Oxfordshire home with cool and colorful toys and collectibles
Jo Simmons
October 7, 2015
Houzz UK Contributor. I have been an interiors journalist since 1995, writing several books on design and numerous features for glossy homes mags over the years. For Houzz, I cover decorating ideas and trends and interview designers and professionals for their insights. My favourite pieces to write, though, are Houzz Tours, as I love exploring and learning about real homes. Call me curious — or nosy!
Houzz UK Contributor. I have been an interiors journalist since 1995, writing several... More
“We quite like doing things our way and going against the grain a bit,” Mel Moss says. “It does make life a bit tricky, trying to be different, but I hate the idea that I might have the same things as other people.” You certainly couldn’t accuse the place that Moss and her husband, Jay Jay Burridge, call home of looking identical to anyone else’s. This gorgeous Oxfordshire, England, house, which they share with two young sons and a menagerie of animals, has a unique interior, packed with pieces collected from around the world and often bought for just a few pennies.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Jay Jay Burridge, an artist and a sculptor; his wife, Mel Moss, a fashion consultant; their boys, Carter and Cash; plus a dog, two cats, a rabbit and five chickens. The couple run Lucky Seven, a custom hat shop, together
Location: Cornbury Park, a Cotswolds country estate in Oxfordshire, England
Property: A cottage built about 300 years ago
Size: Six bedrooms, four bathrooms
“I love the challenge of finding something so cheap, it’s screaming to come home with you,” Burridge says, laughing. “We like to see the charm and glory in things that are unloved and don’t cost a lot of money.” These pieces, from enamelware and jelly molds to Bakelite phones, pepper the rooms, along with Burridge’s beloved Star Wars memorabilia and his own artworks, often featuring dinosaurs.
The effect is a giddy mix that is by turns intriguing, stylish and incredibly joyful. “I like to look into a room or a corner and see fun stuff that makes me smile,” Moss says.
Who lives here: Jay Jay Burridge, an artist and a sculptor; his wife, Mel Moss, a fashion consultant; their boys, Carter and Cash; plus a dog, two cats, a rabbit and five chickens. The couple run Lucky Seven, a custom hat shop, together
Location: Cornbury Park, a Cotswolds country estate in Oxfordshire, England
Property: A cottage built about 300 years ago
Size: Six bedrooms, four bathrooms
“I love the challenge of finding something so cheap, it’s screaming to come home with you,” Burridge says, laughing. “We like to see the charm and glory in things that are unloved and don’t cost a lot of money.” These pieces, from enamelware and jelly molds to Bakelite phones, pepper the rooms, along with Burridge’s beloved Star Wars memorabilia and his own artworks, often featuring dinosaurs.
The effect is a giddy mix that is by turns intriguing, stylish and incredibly joyful. “I like to look into a room or a corner and see fun stuff that makes me smile,” Moss says.
The house is one of about 50 properties on the estate and had been recently renovated when Moss and Burridge moved in, some six years ago. The house was the last one on the estate to be renovated and modernized. “So when we moved in, it was all new inside but this lovely old Cotswolds farmhouse outside,” Burridge says. “The best of both worlds.”
The property had originally been one house, but was divided into two when Moss and Burridge came to live in it. About three years ago, just as the couple were considering finding a bigger home, their neighbors moved out and the estate agreed to join the two homes. “The two houses link on the ground floor, but the bedrooms above are separate, so it’s nice and private for when friends come to stay,” Burridge says.
The property had originally been one house, but was divided into two when Moss and Burridge came to live in it. About three years ago, just as the couple were considering finding a bigger home, their neighbors moved out and the estate agreed to join the two homes. “The two houses link on the ground floor, but the bedrooms above are separate, so it’s nice and private for when friends come to stay,” Burridge says.
Cash, on the left, and Carter sit with their parents at a powder-coated metal and wood table Burridge designed. “For almost the whole time we’ve lived here, Jay Jay has been looking for a garden table,” Moss says. “As he’s an artist and designer, he’s very specific about what he wants and begrudges spending a fortune on something he could make himself.”
The metal sign was found in France. “We have a thing about old signs,” Moss says. “We go for the colors and graphics, rather than what they’re advertising; this one is for tires. It brings extra color outside.”
The metal sign was found in France. “We have a thing about old signs,” Moss says. “We go for the colors and graphics, rather than what they’re advertising; this one is for tires. It brings extra color outside.”
Cash, pictured, and Carter love this treehouse in a dead apple tree. Burridge built it by deconstructing an old playhouse and rebuilding it here. “We acquired the land to use as a chicken garden, fenced it off, and that night the tree fell down in a storm. I was devastated!” Moss says. “Jay Jay went ahead and built the house in it anyway. It was a labor of love. He’s a big kid, and he was re-creating his own childhood treehouse here. Then I came along and hung bunting up in it.”
The hallway opens into the dining space, with an old child’s bike, picked up in France, hanging above. “We love putting things up on walls,” Moss says with a smile.
The couple also regularly move their pieces around, rehanging paintings and changing displays. “It’s not necessarily about objects and paintings. It’s the space in between them that matters — that dynamic needs to work, too,” Burridge says.
The couple also regularly move their pieces around, rehanging paintings and changing displays. “It’s not necessarily about objects and paintings. It’s the space in between them that matters — that dynamic needs to work, too,” Burridge says.
This collection of old toys, figures and computer game consoles is in the downstairs bathroom. “The things Jay Jay collects are often related to his childhood,” Moss says. “They are all things that make you smile.”
Burridge’s office is home to many of his favorite pieces, including an original rebel blaster gun from the film The Empire Strikes Back. “I like to parody conventional collections with my pieces,” he says. “In a hunting lodge, you might have rifles above the fireplace. I’ve got a blaster from a Star Wars film. It’s tongue-in-cheek.”
The exotic dancer neon artwork is by Burridge and was part of an exhibition in Los Angeles. Similar pieces are on display in celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s pop-up diner on London’s Shaftesbury Avenue, for which Burridge was creative director. “Jay Jay often works in here by the light of his lap-dancing dinosaur,” Moss says, laughing.
Some of Burridge’s 60 Bakelite phones are displayed in his office. “They bring a sense of history and fun, and a lot of them work,” Moss says. “It takes a very long time to call anyone on them, though, because you have to dial each number. You then have to stand still for the call, which, when you need to be marching around a house after children, isn’t always very easy.”
The family room has no TV and is a place to sit and read, play a board game or spend time with friends. “It’s my little corner of cheer and calm,” Moss says. She loves the colorful rug in here: “It makes me so happy. It’s like a painting on the floor. It was totally my choice so a bit of a risk, as Jay Jay might have hated it, but I got away with it.”
Rug: Anthropologie
Rug: Anthropologie
A set of two armchairs, which Moss inherited from her mother, sit by the fire in the family room. The shelves are home to books, finds and more of Burridge’s beloved dinosaurs. “The painting is Jay Jay’s,” Moss says. “He picks up old oil paintings, then paints dinosaurs into them. So you have a perfectly nice countryside scene, and he puts a huge dino in the middle! He does the same with tapestries.”
“The Singer sewing machine was my mum’s 21st-birthday present from my grandfather,” Moss says. “I still use it. It’s a lovely object.” Moss found a set of four Snoopy images on eBay (three are visible here). “Carter is Snoopy-obsessed, and we all love these.”
A painting on glass by artist Zebedee Helm, who is a close friend, hangs above the sofa in the family room.
A collection of jelly molds and a pair of cloches sit on this lovely old table. “I don’t like keys and letters left on tables. I would rather have one with nice things on it,” Moss says. “You don’t need to overdo it,” Burridge adds. “Three or four pieces in little groups is often enough. Too much stuff together can look like a museum.”
The “Mel” lighted letters were a gift from Moss’ brother-in-law.
Painting: Zebedee Helm
The “Mel” lighted letters were a gift from Moss’ brother-in-law.
Painting: Zebedee Helm
The family room flows into the dining space, which has a steeply pitched ceiling. The beams are decorated with bunting Burridge brought back from India many years ago.
This space was the kitchen before the two houses were joined. “It has three windows, so it’s nice and light,” Moss says. She has decorated the roof beams with ladders and flowers. “I love old ladders,” she says. “No one seems to get as excited about old ladders as I do.”
“We have several Kub bouillon tins, which I use to put flowers in,” Moss says. “They never cost more than a couple of euros each.” Burridge bought Moss the record player for her birthday. “I love the color and I use it all the time,” she says.
The family living room sees a lot of life. The family’s pet rabbit likes to come in for a cuddle in the evenings, and even the chickens wander in during summer, when the doors are open. “The [long ottoman] is almost like another sofa, but as we often have lots of us in here, including all the animals, we need it,” Moss says.
An original staircase is now blocked off and serves as shelves, holding more Star Wars figures, which the boys like to play with.
Art above fireplace: Jay Jay Burridge; sofa and ottoman: sofa.com
An original staircase is now blocked off and serves as shelves, holding more Star Wars figures, which the boys like to play with.
Art above fireplace: Jay Jay Burridge; sofa and ottoman: sofa.com
Moss inherited the cabinet seen here from her mother, and it’s full of family memories. “I’ve known this dresser since I was a baby,” she says. “When you open the doors, it still smells the same.” She enjoys arranging pieces on it. “I get quite specific about dresser dressing,” she says with a laugh. “It makes me very happy.” The tins on the top shelf are by her stepfather, designer Ian Logan.
“This is where all the meals happen,” Moss says. The boys can sit together on the bench, and the enamel-topped table from a junk shop in Whitstable is practical and hard-wearing.
Artwork over bench: Zebedee Helm
Artwork over bench: Zebedee Helm
China and enamelware line the shelves of the cabinet, which used to stand in Moss’ mother’s house in the south of France.
Another tin sign, this time for Coca-Cola, makes a colorful backsplash for the range.
Moss and Burridge have been collecting enamel pots for about 10 years now. “They were all really cheap,” Moss says. “I like the white and blue pieces best.”
Moss and Burridge’s bedroom is home to crocheted bunting, brightening up the ceiling beam, and some much-loved artwork above the bed. “My stepfather gave me the old American railway signs on tin about 20 years ago when I left home,” Moss says. “They are always the first thing I have to put up.”
The couple have a set of four Shell Tractor Oil prints, all featuring British birds and all hung in their bedroom. “We tend to get bored of pieces, but we never tire of these. We absolutely love them,” Moss says. The chest of drawers came from a friend who no longer wanted it. “We stripped it back, and now it holds everything,” she says.
Star Wars figures crop up in the couple’s bedroom too, perched on the chest of drawers.
The bunk bed in Cash’s room originally belonged to Burridge. His father, a set designer, made it and Burridge and his brother Cody slept in it. “It’s been lots of different colors over the years,” Moss says.
Cash’s desk came from a brocante, or secondhand market, in the south of France. “Like Jay Jay, he’s constantly drawing,” Moss says. “He sits at that desk a lot and loves to pretend to call people on the phone, too.”
The couple’s love of collecting knows no bounds. “We are good at picking things up, not so good about getting rid of stuff,” Burridge says. “We hit critical mass several years ago. I now have a warehouse full of dinosaurs and furniture from the south of France.”
The couple’s love of collecting knows no bounds. “We are good at picking things up, not so good about getting rid of stuff,” Burridge says. “We hit critical mass several years ago. I now have a warehouse full of dinosaurs and furniture from the south of France.”
Burridge made the triceratops seen here from a dense, light foam, and then covered it in packing tape. Trevor, as it is called, was originally in the front garden, but Moss and Burridge worried it might cause a car accident, so they moved it to the back. “People out walking often ask if they can take a photo,” Burridge says.
In windy weather, they sometimes move Trevor to a sheltered spot. “He’s quite light, and we have had a few evenings where we’ve looked out and shouted, ‘Trevor’s gone!’” Moss says. “If the wind gets behind his frills, he’s off!”
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style:
Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
In windy weather, they sometimes move Trevor to a sheltered spot. “He’s quite light, and we have had a few evenings where we’ve looked out and shouted, ‘Trevor’s gone!’” Moss says. “If the wind gets behind his frills, he’s off!”
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style:
Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
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This house just made me feel like a million dollars....I applaud these talented homeowners who have surrounded their family with the things they love and that have meaning. It really is a personal masterpiece and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to "tour" this remarkable home!