Inside A Designer’s Classic-Meets-Quirky Family Home With ‘Secret Doorways’

In this spacious drawing room (one of six reception rooms), Sarah has paired vintage and highstreet finds to create an eclectic feel. The striped cushions are from Ikea, while the curtains are vintage Colefax & Fowler.

Sarah and her husband Nick left London for the village near the small town of Langport in 2021 – wanting to give their three sons more room to roam. “Nick grew up just down the road and we wanted their childhoods to be similarly idyllic,” Sarah says.

After viewing more than 30 houses, the couple instantly knew that the manor – surrounded by 15 acres of grounds, a large gardens and outbuildings – was the one. “We loved the mullioned windows and original front door and decided we wanted it before we even went inside,” recalls Sarah. The estate agent was less convinced. “She warned us that it wasn’t for the faint-hearted as it needed a complete overhaul.”

Undeterred, the family snapped up the house, using change from the sale of their London property for renovations and enlisting the help of around 20 local tradespeople. Every inch of the house – from the hundred-year-old plumbing to the crumbling plaster – needed updating.

Then there was the small matter of the heating: there was none, Sarah recalls with a shiver. One night, as she and Nick lay in bed with plaster falling onto their heads, they wondered if they would ever live in a cosy house again. “That was a low point,” she laughs. But the dust quickly settled once radiators were installed and all rooms had been replastered using traditional lime (non-negotiable if a building is listed).

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Nutcracker Wallpaper

Scullery Yellow Paint

Aiming for a ‘perfectly imperfect’ look, Sarah mimicked the mottled tones of plaster using lime-based paint throughout the house. In the kitchen, she opted for Bauwerk’s Ibiza limewash, which – combined with reclaimed pine floorboards, British Standard units and Arabescato marble worktops – creates a contemporary feel. Meanwhile, the adjoining utility space, whose matching units are painted deVOL’s Scullery Yellow, provides playfulness and pizazz. “It’s the most uplifting room to do the laundry in,” says Sarah.

In the utility area Sarah has painted British Standard units in deVOL’s Scullery Yellow, while keeping the ironmongery consistent with the kitchen. The lights are from Pooky. The herringbone terracotta tiles are from Ca’ Pietra

The playful, circus-themed bedroom, shared by Sarah’s two eldest sons, is testament to this. Sarah commissioned decorative painter Eugenia Barrios Osborne (@eboartstudio) to create the ‘big-top’ inspired ceiling.

“It’s emotional designing a children’s bedroom: they won’t want a circus tent ceiling forever, so you’ve got to grab the moment while it’s there,” she says. The bed canopies were custom-made using fabric gifted by a neighbour, while the aeroplane-shaped shelf and antique beds were, like much of the family’s furniture, scavenged from local dealers.

Sarah loves to scour flea markets and antique fairs (nearby Shepton Mallet is a favourite, as well as Kempton in Surrey). Prized finds include the hand-painted folk art cupboard, originally from Transylvania, which provides a characterful storage solution in the playroom. Elsewhere, a pair of 18th-century doors from India now make up the doorway to the master bathroom. “I had no idea where they would go when I bought them but I’m so glad I did, as they are perfect here. Plus, when they’re closed, they look like a wardrobe,” notes Sarah with a glint in her eye.

Sarah brought an artistic flourish to the cupboard doors – carefully adding wallpaper, designed by decorative artist Tess Newall, to the inserts

Secret nooks and concealed doorways, it seems, are Sarah’s forte (perhaps a hangover from her previous career: much like a bag, a house can never have too many hidden compartments). Upstairs, in what was once a damp attic, a hidden cubbyhole sits behind a curtain at the top of a wooden ladder. “I wanted to design a magical place that the boys would never forget,” she says.

She bought the stuffed animal heads in Anthropologie before any of the children were born

The hidden bar

Other details delight adults just as much as children: in the downstairs loo, a doorway camouflaged by wallpaper leads to a hidden drinks bar “It has turned out even better than I’d hoped,” smiles Sarah, who, having finished the renovation, now uses her wealth of knowledge to help others design their dream homes. Naturally, she comes with an enormous bag of tricks.

Learn more about Sarah’s work at sarahsouthwelldesign.com.

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