This jewel of a house hides among peaceful and secluded gardens in the heart of a friendly coastal village close to Dartmouth. Originally built as a Georgian Vicarage in the 1700's, with an impressive sweeping split staircase and galleried landing, the house was substantially extended in Victorian times, and had several later additions during the 1970's.
The new owners wanted the house to benefit from a complete refurbishment, including rationalising some of the later additions and updating the building fabric and infrastructure, and transform it into a sumptuous and beautiful home ready to welcome family and entertain friends.
Working closely with the clients and Dartmouth-based architects BBH, we designed the internal spaces to incorporate new and updated bathrooms, a fabulous family kitchen and utility, and five substantial bedroom suites, with new plumbing and heating, lighting and decorations throughout. What distinguished the project most was the clients' passion for well-loved old and reclaimed furnishings, even including installation of an original 1950's porcelain bathtub found on eBay, which required the strengthening of floor joists in the master bathroom!
I have never used an interior designer before and the renovation of a property as big as Farwell House was exciting but also overwhelming. We had ideas of what we wanted, but I wasn’t sure where to start – and it wasn’t just décor and fittings– we are talking about essentials for living such as lighting and electrical circuit diagrams, room layouts. Anna was excellent – picking up where the architect finished and guiding us through some very major decisions. Once the decisions were made, she then transforming these onto working drawings that the builders could follow. Her extensive knowledge helped with sourcing and co-ordinating the right products for the house. She also mediated between us when there were some differences of opinion, and also directed and encouraged me to be more adventurous and creative than I might otherwise have been. The whole process then became a fun experience and as a result we have a large but warm and comfortable home. Thank you, Anna!
MH