A Grade II-listed Georgian home in Somerset

Thoughtfully restored, this Georgian house is filled with antiques collected over many years, and decorated with pretty wallpapers and textiles. Photographs Dan Duchars/GAP Interiors/The Contented Nest

By Sara Bird

Published: Saturday, 22 April 2023 at 12:00 am

This is probably the twelfth period property we have owned,’ says floral designer Susie Bell of her Grade II-listed Somerset home, and she doubts it’ll be their last. ‘I’m a nomadic soul at heart. As a child we moved across continents a lot. And I’ve always loved architecture and interiors and so I suppose moving is part of that,’ she explains. ‘I find it exciting and inspiring. Luckily, the family have always been up for it too.’

With its established walled garden and village setting, the location of the house was as much of a draw as its architecture, some of which dates back to the 17th century. Their previous house was quite remote and so the idea of a village shop, a pub and a thriving market town just a short drive away were hugely appealing, as was the proximity to Bath, which really sealed the deal.

‘We like the theatre and it’s fabulous to be close to a cultural hub and good links to London,’ explains Susie, who is co-founder of Beyond Beleaf – floral decorators known for their botanically and seasonally correct arrangements of faux flowers, trees and plants, which are mixed with real, fresh foliage.

‘It’s not the biggest house we’ve owned, and not the smallest, but it has very pleasing proportions and a certain cosiness,’ she says, explaining that when it’s cold and only she and her husband Ralph are at home, they close off parts of the house, preferring to sit in the kitchen and snug with the AGA on. ‘And then at Christmas, when there can be up to 17 in the house, we open everything up. It’s quite a clever Tardis of a house.’

In the four years since moving in, Susie and Ralph have renovated this house from top to bottom. ‘It was in good condition, but we had four children on the brink of adulthood all wanting their own bathrooms, plus we needed more space downstairs,’ says Susie. The couple extended within listed building permission, and remodelled the downstairs to provide a new dining room, a television room and a boot room.

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When it came to decorating, the schemes were designed around important pieces from the couple’s wonderful collection of art and antiques, such as the generous kitchen dresser, which has moved from house to house and been painted a good few times over the years. This piece, along with an AGA, was to become central to the look of the spacious kitchen, one of the last areas to be transformed.

Although Susie had embraced modern kitchen design in previous period homes, she felt something classic would better suit the property’s extraordinary architectural details. They called on a kitchen-designer friend for bespoke cabinetry and extended flagstone flooring to the rear corridor and boot room as both an aesthetic and practical choice.

‘We knew we would be in and out with the dogs and it can cope with muddy boots and paws,’ says Susie. ‘Besides, I like a grey palette. I like the greys, grey-blues and greens of the English countryside.’ She also tends to add a shot of strong blue or a pop of red and black in most places, which she finds ‘uplifting’.

This thematic colour scheme runs through the house, as does the use of beautiful wallpaper, and this creates a sense of space and flow. ‘It is all about harmony for me,’ says Susie. ‘Too many disjointed areas would have felt uncomfortable.’

As with the dresser in the kitchen, a French cane bed in the master suite – one of Susie’s favourite possessions, bought over 35 years ago – set the tone for a pretty scheme featuring toile de Jouy wallpaper and a splendid canopy, made from men’s suiting material. Susie says that while she looks to interiors magazines for ideas, she is also lucky to work with interior designers, and squirrels away design ideas in ‘the filing cabinet’ inside her head.

Curated collections, thoughtfully displayed, and the layering of patterns, colours and texture is very much the look of the moment and it is an aesthetic that comes naturally to Susie, who is a regular at antiques fairs and flea markets. Favourites include Bath Decorative Antiques Fair each year, the more frequent Antique and Collectors Fairs and the Giant Flea Market at The Bath & West Showground.

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‘I used to be guilty of a bit more clutter,’ she admits, ‘but I like different textiles and the sense of history they come with. I am not one for new wallpaper, new chairs, new cushions, new carpet.’

Susie notes how experience has come to influence her decorating choices. ‘I used to ask advice of designer friends, but I find I do that less and less these days as I’ve developed a good feel for what works for me and what will sit comfortably in my home.’

Outdoors, the exquisite walled garden was created by the previous owner, who used to open it to the public as part of the National Garden Scheme. It was, in fact, the one thing that gave Susie pause for thought before buying the property.

‘It was a much bigger and a more formal garden than I thought I was prepared to take on and I knew I would need help,’ she admits. The reality has been less daunting, with Susie doing much of the gardening herself with regular help one day a week. And she has continued to open with the NGS when the timings work.

The sense of heritage, building on what has gone before, and sympathetically moving things forward will be familiar to anyone who has lived in a period home. Susie sums up its appeal in her own home: ‘There is a lovely air of comfort created by the previous generations that lived here – it feels solid and has a great sense of family.’

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A Grade II-listed Georgian home in Somerset

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