Houzz Tour: 17th-Century Cornish Manor Updated for Modern Life
This Jacobean home has undergone a remarkable transformation without losing its period charm
This country manor house in Cornwall was built in 1642, and although it’s been occupied continuously ever since, not much work had been done on it since the 1950s. The present owners bought it two or three years ago, says Russell Taylor of Russell Taylor Architects, who was tasked with bringing the property up to date. The house had a dated kitchen in a 60-year-old addition and only one bathroom, surprising for such a large home.
“The core task was to provide more bathrooms and a new kitchen-breakfast room, as well as to make the house flow into the garden,” architect Russell Taylor says. “Although the property is set in lovely grounds, there were no doors onto the main part of the garden and you had to go around a corner and up a hill to get to it.”
The old square kitchen was replaced with a rectangular kitchen-breakfast room, which features subtle divides between the prep and serving area and the dining space, which overlooks and now opens onto the garden. The table is positioned so it gets the morning sun.
The rustic-looking slate floor has heating beneath it, so radiators don’t clutter up the walls.
Kitchen design and build: Martin Moore
The rustic-looking slate floor has heating beneath it, so radiators don’t clutter up the walls.
Kitchen design and build: Martin Moore
The single-story addition that sat on this spot has been replaced by an elegant, two-story one, built using locally sourced materials such as granite and slate that help it blend into the old part of the house.
Because the house is Grade II-listed, Taylor first undertook an analysis of the property to look at which parts were particularly important historically. He then designed the new addition, covering the footprint of the kitchen that was added in the 1950s.
“We were able to show that we were working with the history of the site and understood the building, so we gained the confidence of English Heritage and the planning authority,” Taylor says. “Apart from the fact that it’s cleaner, the new extension is almost indistinguishable from the old part.”
“We were able to show that we were working with the history of the site and understood the building, so we gained the confidence of English Heritage and the planning authority,” Taylor says. “Apart from the fact that it’s cleaner, the new extension is almost indistinguishable from the old part.”
To make way for the addition and to create direct access from the kitchen-breakfast room to the garden, it was necessary to dig into the hillside, which conveniently made space for this wine cellar off the kitchen and down a flight of stairs. Ceiling-high racks provide plenty of space to store bottles, while a bank of wine coolers runs below the countertop.
“This room is underground, so a beautiful, even temperature is retained constantly, making it the perfect place to store wine,” Taylor says.
“This room is underground, so a beautiful, even temperature is retained constantly, making it the perfect place to store wine,” Taylor says.
The original features in the old part of the house were restored where possible. The front door opens onto an impressive hallway, which features the building’s original slate flooring. “We designed the internal doors opening off this hallway and put in the cornicing here, but it has all been made to look original,” Taylor says.
Taylor was also asked to create a library by combining two ground-floor rooms into one.
“We laid new flooring in the library and carefully designed the bookcase and fireplace to ensure it was all in keeping with the period of the house,” Taylor says. Apart from the windows, everything else in the room is new.
Sofas and armchairs in a mix of fabrics and casually dressed with a selection of pillows give this space a laid-back, casual feel.
Sofas and armchairs in a mix of fabrics and casually dressed with a selection of pillows give this space a laid-back, casual feel.
The drawing room is more formal and was once the manor house’s main hall. To break up the large space, Taylor created two seating areas: a more sociable space around the rug by the original fireplace and a more solitary area at the rear of the room.
Having taken so much care to ensure the new exterior worked with the old, the homeowners were also keen for the interior design to be in keeping with their home’s roots. They opted for antique or period-inspired furniture and stuck to a relaxing soft, muted palette warmed up with accents of bold — but not bright — colors, such as burgundy and emerald.
The homeowners wanted to include marble in the bathroom to add a luxurious feel. It’s been elegantly incorporated in the bath splashback and the shower, but, as Taylor says, “To step into a building built in 1642, go up to the [second] floor and come across a marble floor would have just felt wrong.”
Although such a large bathroom is unlikely to suffer too much from condensation, the classical-style mirror has an anti-mist device.
Bathroom fixtures: CP Hart
Although such a large bathroom is unlikely to suffer too much from condensation, the classical-style mirror has an anti-mist device.
Bathroom fixtures: CP Hart
Taylor used the original fireplace in the main bedroom, which is made of granite and plaster, as a blueprint for the new fireplaces he designed for other areas of the house. “The plaster relief above the fireplace in the main bedroom is original, as is the frieze that runs along the top of the walls. We actually extended this frieze to complete the circuit around the room,” he says.
Radiators have been used to heat the home’s upper levels, but they’re carefully concealed in casings under the windows. This small guest bedroom has a bolder color palette with strong floral print curtains elegantly framing the quaintly askew window.
Just across from the kitchen-breakfast room is a little summerhouse complete with an open fire. This room gets the sun in the afternoon, and the intention is to naturally encourage people who are enjoying the morning sun in the breakfast room to stroll across the lawn later in the day to catch the rays here.
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Who lives here: A couple with grown children
Location: Cornwall, England
Property: A Grade II-listed Jacobean country house dating from 1642
Size: Five bedrooms, five bathrooms
Architect: Russell Taylor of Russell Taylor Architects