When interior designer Nicola Harding decided to sell her Victorian-era London home in 2018, her reasons were pretty standard, you might say: she craved more space, greenery, and calm for her family of five. But the countryside house they ended up moving into wasn’t at all predictable. “Right from the moment I walked through the door, it just captured my heart,” says Harding of the 17th-century property that’s tucked inside an idyllic walled garden in the Cotswolds. Despite its location next to the village churchyard, the house isn’t a vicarage or a priory, and was rumored to have once been used as a school and courthouse.
Harding only heard about the place, dubbed Ivy House, coming up for sale through the parents of an old friend, who knew the owner who had lived there for 40 years. “She really wanted it to go to a young family, and so we were very lucky to have the chance to see it before anyone else did,” she remembers.
The property had good bones but the flow was “a very odd, rabbit-warren of dark rooms not optimized for family life,” says Harding. The easy option would have been to add a large extension to the back, “but I find when that happens with these big old houses, people end up living in the modern bit, and the original part becomes rather sad and dusty.” Calling on the wisdom of architect friend Christian Fleming and deploying her 15-plus years of experience in interior design, Harding explains how she gently tweaked this magical property into the ultimate family home.
The door to the garden was already there. With the architect, Christian, who is local to the area, we came up with the idea of adding a very small wooden extension next to it to unlock how the kitchen and dining area would be used. It’s only about six-by-nine-feet in total, but it created space for a large table and window seat which we can all gather around. | Photography by Paul MasseyI was inspired by the work of the great architect Edwin Lutyens for the look of the extension. We opted for untreated oak so that it just melts into the original stonework. I’m a real romantic and would much rather something that feels that it’s evolved organically over time, rather than brand-spanking new. | Photography by Debi TreloarI’ve been lucky enough to work with Plain English Kitchens on a number of our projects and leapt at the opportunity to use them in our own house. For the worktops we used reclaimed wood as a cost-saving move. We all love cooking—my three children included—and the checkerboard tiles as a backsplash are great at hiding a multitude of sins. Kitchen, Plain English; Salvaged Pendants, Battersea Power Station |Photography by Paul MasseyWe love entertaining and squeezing in as many people as we possibly can. When designing furniture for NiX, my brand, we do so with use first in mind and then the way that it looks follows. It was important to have the legs of the table set far into the middle, so that you can get as many chairs around it as possible, and so that people can slide along a banquette. Table Runner and Dining Table, Nix | Photography by Debi TreloarI’m a big believer in seating by stealth: you want to have the opportunity to fit lots of bottoms into a space, but not have it feeling like a furniture showroom when you’re there on your own. Ottomans are great for this, and they provide a side table for a book and a drink. The Edwardian sofa here is the perfect shape and it can be dressed up or down. I’ve had fun covering the body in one stripe, the seat cushions in another, and then layered it up with squishy cushions. Wall Paint, Sea Moss by Pure & Originals; Ottoman, Cushions, and Sofa, Nix | Photography by Paul MasseyThis space has two uses. It’s sort of a grown-up playroom as there’s no TV, so if I have a few girlfriends over we’ll sit here and have drinks. And it’s also my office—just behind that green sofa is my desk. This is my happy place because no one passes through and I have the view of the garden on both sides. It was important to try and use as much as possible from the house, both from a sustainability and a thrifty point of view, so we kept the curtains and reimagined the wall lights with new shades. The flooring was installed from the hallway, and the fireplace was moved in from another room. | Photography by Paul MasseyThe walls in here are Old Rose by Belgian company Pure & Original, which claims to have the highest natural color pigment of all the paint brands. We’ve used them all over, I can vouch for how that really comes across when you live with them. This pink might just be my favorite color ever. It’s got enough intensity to make it feel quite lively and dynamic, but in a very restful way. Bespoke Rug, Vanderhurd| Photography by Debi TreloarThis is my husband Andy’s study. Unlike me he’s an extrovert, so being positioned right next to the TV room at the heart of what the kids are watching and playing is right up his boulevard. This was previously a music room so we made it into a kind of library by having the bookshelves made. During the pandemic we home-schooled the kids around that wooden table, and it comes in handy at Christmas. But most of all, Andy loves doing jigsaw puzzles on it. | Photography by Debi TreloarOur bedroom was previously a huge, cold room which was hard to use. We reconfigured the space to create a mezzanine level with a bath and a single bed which serves as a reading nook and somewhere the kids can sleep if they want to be close to us. Underneath is a walk-in closet and a little staircase. The windows, which we painted mauve, were reclaimed from the original kitchen. Side Table, Lamp and Shade, Nix | Photography by Paul MasseyEveryone loves taking a bath here because it looks out over the churchyard. The tub was there already so I just swapped out the outdated taps and updated the tiles using the 1970s-style ones salvaged from the [bathroom] downstairs. The dark zellige tiles on the floor gives the room a jewel-like quality. Floor Tiles, Mosaic Factory | Photography by Paul MasseyWhen it all gets a bit much—too many children and people!—the greenhouse is where I disappear to. It was crafted out of painted iron with reclaimed bricks for the floor and we designed it in such a way that there’s enough room to grow produce and also just hang out in (here I am eating a pavlova made by my son, Sam). Sitting in here and listening to the rain on the glass is one of my favorite things to do. | Photography by Debi TreloarWe’ve created a kitchen garden, and we’ve all got so much out of growing vegetables—partly because we enjoy eating them so much! | Photography by Debi Treloar
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