{"id":18808,"date":"2023-02-18T09:30:49","date_gmt":"2023-02-18T08:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=39815"},"modified":"2023-02-18T10:36:39","modified_gmt":"2023-02-18T09:36:39","slug":"inside-shilstone-house-a-georgian-manor-house-in-devon","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/inside-shilstone-house-a-georgian-manor-house-in-devon\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Shilstone House, a Georgian manor house in Devon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hidden in a secluded valley in Devon, Shilstone House had fallen into disrepair. If it hadn\u2019t been for Sebastian Fenwick\u2019s vision, this Georgian gem would have been consigned to history. Photographs Andreas von Einsiedel <\/p>

By Charlotte Metcalf\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 18 February 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Standing in Shilstone\u2019s impressive entrance hall, with its blazing fire and vaulted, lantern-hung corridor, it\u2019s hard to believe that Sebastian and Lucy Fenwick\u2019s home was once nothing more than a cluster of crumbling outbuildings and a lopsided farmhouse. Now lovingly restored, the Georgian manor house, with its hand-cut flagstones and panelled rooms, feels simultaneously ancient and modern.<\/p>\n

The perfect classical proportions suggest the house has been standing here forever, and yet there is a notable lack of time-worn shabby in the overall chic: nothing is sagging, rotting, peeling or mouldering. Instead, glass sparkles and the fireplaces \u2013 which all bear the Fenwick family crest and initials \u2013 are clean and swept.<\/p>\n

The couple bought the site in 1997 when Lucy, who is now a fine art consultant, was working at Sotheby\u2019s in London, and Sebastian was restoring local properties. At the time, they were living in Sebastian\u2019s house nearby, but he longed to build a family home. \u2018I noticed Shilstone on an Ordnance Survey map and the site intrigued me,\u2019 he says, explaining how he came to make the fateful visit that would result in a 20-year-long restoration.<\/p>\n

On arriving at Shilstone, he quickly realised he\u2019d stumbled upon a historic gem: what appeared to be an old farmhouse was the east facade of a once-substantial building, around which he found the remains of a designed landscape and clear signs of another, important, medieval house<\/a>, later identified as the former Domesday manor of \u2018Silfestania\u2019.<\/p>\n

Sebastian undertook an investigation with Devon Rural Archive, which revealed a rare Jacobean grotto and an 18th-century water theatre comprising leats, rills and cascades. There was also a 17th-century walled garden with a crenellated pavilion (or banqueting house), and a courtyard of fine barns, as well as the medieval foundations.<\/p>\n

English Heritage put Lucy and Sebastian in touch with the architectural historian Christopher Rae-Scott, who advised them on how the house might once have looked. \u2018We saw an opportunity to recreate the past and build a new house in the classical tradition,\u2019 says Sebastian, adding that Christopher\u2019s meticulous drawings mirrored exactly what he had been imagining.<\/p>\n

Work began in 2000 and all the stone used in the project came from a quarry on the land; each piece cut on site by hand. The couple hired a team of skilled local craftsmen who, amongst many exquisite details, produced a magnificent Devon oak staircase and several ornate plaster ceilings. Wherever possible, materials came from reclamation yards<\/a> in order to add the illusion of age.<\/p>\n

The family finally moved into Shilstone House in 2011, just over a decade after the foundation stone was laid. Lucy admits she occasionally despaired of the place ever being finished, and sometimes moaned about Sebastian building such an enormous \u2018folly\u2019 of a house. However, she knows the resurrection of Shilstone House is his lifetime\u2019s work and a legacy for their 13-year-old son, Ned. \u2018Anyone who\u2019s ever built a house will tell you they\u2019d probably never do it again,\u2019 she laughs. \u2018It\u2019s a painful journey, but with the end in sight and with the mud receding, I\u2019ve started to feel huge pride in it.\u2019<\/p>\n

And she is not alone in admiring her husband\u2019s vision; Sebastian\u2019s restoration and rebuild has won many accolades. Peter Beacham, former protection director of English Heritage, wrote to congratulate him, calling Shilstone, \u2018a significant contribution to English architecture in the early-21st century\u2019.<\/p>\n

Now, another decade on, detail by detail, with painstaking historical accuracy, the build is nearing completion and the house has been decorated in varying shades of taupe and off-white<\/a>, except where Sebastian\u2019s choice of more vivid colours has prevailed, such as the blues and greens in the drawing and sitting rooms.<\/p>\n

\u2018I dislike strong colours,\u2019 says Lucy. \u2018I love subtle, gentle shades, like soft greys, pinks and greens.\u2019 The enormous master bedroom is a case in point: the walls are decorated in a pale, pearlescent grey \u2013 the perfect backdrop for the four-poster bed<\/a>, which is draped in antique<\/a> chintz. If she could, this is where she would spend all of her time. \u2018The view over the valley is so beautiful,\u2019 says Lucy. \u2018I often don\u2019t want to tear myself away.\u2019<\/p>\n

However, the kitchen is where she can usually be found, particularly now that she and Sebastian are working together to run Shilstone as a thriving wedding venue. \u2018With eight bedrooms and six reception rooms, we decided to throw our doors open and to share the house. It\u2019s lovely, but it\u2019s hard work. When we started out, the Aga<\/a> sometimes gave up on me when I was cooking for as many as 80,\u2019 Lucy recollects. \u2018But no-one seemed to notice and the wedding business has just gone from strength to strength.\u2019<\/p>\n