English Elements Continue in Kent, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, and the Cotswolds.

Do you remember the elements of English design discussed in my earlier posts - the use of antiques and faded fabrics, warm lighting and fireplaces, kitchens that really cook, beloved pets and animals, beautiful gardens, and tea?  The homes in today's post truly demonstrate most of these elements.  See if you agree.

From an October, 1992 issue of House Beautiful, we visit the home of Barrie McIntyre who moved to England from New Zealand as a travel agent, had an eye for detail, and eventually worked for Colefax and Fowler ( a firm whose name should be so familiar to you by now).  He not only designed his own beautiful home and homes for others but became a sort of archivist for Colefax and Fowler chronicling their work before we had the design books we do today.

Primroses on fabrics, prints and plates.

"Symmetrically arranged library" revealing McIntyre's antiques and use of Colefax and Fowler fabrics and wall covering.

Pembroke damask covered sofa with 18th-century engravings of Kentish houses above.  Sweet desk and chair.

Barry McIntyre, homeowner, Colefax and Fowler designer, archivist looking very happy.  (His surroundings sort of look like what my once-organized issues of magazines look like since starting this blog.  But, I'm happy too.)

And here is the requisite beautiful garden with tea on the table.

Teapots and friends.

What looks like a kitchen that is actually used for dining and entertaining.

Sampling of his fabrics and a guest bedroom with toile.  (I love toile and have none in my home - just doesn't work here.  In one of my fantasy houses it would.  The English one of course.)

More faded fabrics, more antiques.

Burford Stripe wallpaper in bathroom.

OK, so we didn't see any "beloved pets" or fireplaces in McIntyre's home, but six out of eight elements is just not bad.

In June1985, Architectural Digest devoted their whole issue to "the English Country House."  First to Buckinghamshire and the home of John and Diane Nutting - Chicheley Hall.

Gilt-framed mirror was made for this drawing room and the portrait to the left (that I sadly cut off a bit) is of the wife of the first owner of Chicheley Hall.

Diane Nutting in front of her private sitting room's fireplace.  She believes this room has the "most beautiful carving in the house."  (By the way, my English fantasy house will have a private sitting room.)

Silk covered walls and faded chintz complement the carved paneling in this room.  Flower arrangements add such freshness here.  (To the right, there is a horse painting that got cut so the Nuttings must love horses too.)

Bedroom with more faded chintz and requisite fireplace.  (Sorry for the blurriness at the top of the image.  Maybe I do need a larger scanner.

Now to the most glorious gardens.  The top image is of their vegetable garden bordered by a path leading to the "adjacent church."  The image below the vegetable garden is of the entrance to the Nutting's private family garden.

Colorful array of roses and campanulas.

I know, I know, no kitchen, but we just know it has one, and it does have all the other elements and is such a pretty house.

Since the Nuttings did not show us their kitchen, here is a very English kitchen from Cote Ouest, August 1995, and a chicken dish that looks wonderful.  (I'm finishing this blog just before dinner time.)  Love the brown glazed pots on top shelf.

And another from the same issue.  Love the flooring in both kitchens.

And another.

And yet another.  Who dares to say my blog is misnamed now, oh children of mine?

This same issue of Cote Ouest  did a feature on the Cotswolds.  Before tucking this magazine back onto its rightful shelf, I thought I would post some of its images here.  I apologize ahead of time for the slight blurriness that occurs at the spine, but the images were so lovely, I couldn't bear to separate them.

These images are all of the Cotswolds, but not of any one house or town.

I tried cutting the building to the left on the fold, but then the whole house lost something.  Again sorry for the poor resolution.

Ditto above comment.

I so want to shop in The March Hare.

Sudeley Castle.

The last really blurry one, but had to show the English horses, riders and damp English countryside.

Note the croquet game on the lawn.

Are we all feeling very English-y yet?  Does anyone want to "pop into the Marsh Goose for a pint" or the Fox Inn for afternoon tea?  My early design aesthetic just loved it all - the shires, the stone houses, the rolling  countryside, the antiques, the horses, the chintz - and part of me still does, but there were rumblings of change about to take place (just not too soon).
Till next time and still more England-
b

Tea.  How Could I Forget Tea?

Tea is not usually deemed a huge interior design influence, but for the English perhaps it is.  Whole ceremonies have grown up around it from childhood far into adulthood.  Special foods are prepared, special china is purchased, all as part of the tea time event.  Tea shops abound in England.  And, I, for one, love it all.  Since I really like the aroma of coffee but not its bitter taste, tea has always been my caffeine choice.  Whether it be iced or hot, it's always comforting and delicious.  So, today's posting is all about tea and the beautiful china, snowy linens and the tasty tidbits that accompany it.

It all starts in childhood.

Children and Gardens, by Gertrude Jekyll

These little ones look so angelic, but the tiny one to the right is having a big spill.

Having Tea by Tricia Foley

Even though the scan below shows the fold, I had to include it because of the fireplace and Tasha's beautiful antique china.  After Beatrix Potter, Tasha Tudor is my favorite illustrator of children's books. I know she's American, but the English transported tea culture to the colonies.  Right?

Sweet heart-shaped jam sandwiches for children's teas.

The tea rituals continue into adolescence as seen in these photos of St. Edmund's college and prep school in Canterbury England.  First, tea and cricket. (The photos below are from Cote Ouest, Autumn 1997)

Then, five-o'clock-tea-and-biscuits for the boys.

Tea in lovely china with a biscuit on the side in front of a miniature of St. Edmund's chapel.

So English - teak bench,  a tie striped with St. Edmund's colors, a thermos and cup of tea, a book, crumpets.  All is well.

Not only the students at St. Edmund's enjoy their tea, but also the gardener there.

Tea and flowers, an English icon.

A tradition so firmly entrenched continues well into adulthood typified in the following image of the Dowager Countess overlooking Downton Abbey with tea firmly by her side.  (Downton Abbey is a PBS series not to be missed.  Besides viewing it on TV, I own the DVD's and have watched them at least three times.  I'm such a "Brit-ophile.")

Such an important tea tradition demands beautiful china to accompany it.  Meredith Etherington-Smith's
dining room table in London is an example of such beauty.  She herself is a lifelong collector of beautiful china.

Set with Style, by Caroline Clifton-Mogg

Her London dining room again.  So beautifully English.

China close-up.

Blue and white china - always a favorite.  Here we see part of Tasha Tudor's collection.  (From Heirloom Crafts by Tasha Tudor and Tovah Martin)  Why do we women love our china so much?  Look at Ethrington-Smith's collection above, look at Ann Wyeth McCoy's collection from an earlier post.  Could it all stem from our early tea parties?

More blue and white. (linesfromlinderhof.com)

Williams Sonoma's book, Entertaining (with these photos by Quentin Bacon), even instructs us how to make tea in blue and white.

Tricia Foley writes an entire book about Having Tea. It's a delightful book from which I chose the following images.  Only some of the china is blue and white, but that's OK.

In England.

In Set in Style, Clifton-Mogg devotes several pages to Tricia Foley's Long island home and her teas there.  While I will discuss Foley in later postings - my white period, her love of tea seems appropriate here.  Foley writes, "I usually serve three pots of tea - one black, one green, and then an infusion of some description.  There are usually cucumber sandwiches, Cheddar with chutney, and one with herbs and garden sprigs.  The bread is really thin -- sometimes there is shortbread too.  Yes, I make it an occasion -- I think if you ask people to tea, you should do it properly."  Wow!  At my house you get tea and cookies, but in my Long Island fantasy house I'd serve everything else.

See, she serves cookies too.

I love her style and I know she's American, not English.  But, her tea aesthetic is so English.

Lastly, wouldn't you love to join me for tea in this very pretty English garden?

I may have gotten a bit carried away in this posting.  As I warmed to my topic and revisited all these fabulous books, it was fun for me, like seeing old friends.  If you like tea, these books are delightful.  Heck, even if you don't like tea, they're great "tablescape" inspiration.  

More to the point, dear reader, do you think tea is an English design aesthetic?  I think so.  Or, maybe I just enjoyed too many tea parties as a child.

Till next time,

b