An early 19th-century mansion in Wiltshire, England, masterminded by Ben Pentreath.
Photo: Ben Pentreath
Ben Pentreath Reimagines a Glorious 19th-Century Manor House in England
The British design superstar rejuvenates the interiors of a Regency country house with bold paint choices and contemporary artworks
It didn’t take long for architectual and interior designer Ben Pentreath to make an impression on the owners of an early 19th-century manor house in bucolic Wiltshire, in southwest England. The couple was embarking on a major renovation and had invited him out from London to talk about redecorating the Regency-era residence. It was “a classical architectural dream,” Pentreath recalls, albeit one that had been left untouched for decades. “It was in quite a bad state, definitely in dramatic need of real TLC.”
On his way home that day, Pentreath says, he couldn’t shake his concerns about a plan put forth by the project’s architects “to glaze over the most beautiful little kitchen courtyard and turn it into a big, dramatic, top-lit back hallway.” So he phoned the husband and offered a blunt assessment.
An English Regency country house revived by designer Ben Pentreath. Photo: Ben Pentreath
“I told him, ‘That is going to cost a fortune, and it will be absolutely naff,’ which he instantly got and pulled the pin,” recounts Pentreath. Noting that it had been the architects’ one dramatic gesture, he confesses to having “trod on some toes quite hard.” From that moment on, “they absolutely hated me, but we were stuck with each other,” he chuckles in the endearing, upbeat manner of someone always trying to see the sunny side of life.
Pentreath, who founded his firm two decades ago, oversees a team of more than 40, working on everything from chic urban pieds-à-terre to stately country homes. His client list includes, notably, members of the royal family. He has created collections for Morris & Co., Johnstons of Elgin, and Alternative Flooring, as well as decorative accessories sold through Pentreath & Hall, the Bloomsbury shop he runs with designer Bridie Hall. Last year, he received the Richard H. Driehaus Prize for his distinguished work embodying the highest principles of traditional and classical architecture.
Beneath the drawing room’s restored plaster ceiling, a yellow Max Rollit sofa and a vintage Howard & Sons sofa clad in a Claremont linen face an ottoman table upholstered in a fabric Pentreath commissioned from Fine Cell Work; a Pentreath & Hall lamp stands on one of the antique side tables, the matching pair of lamps are by Robert Kime, and the rug is antique. Photo: Ben Pentreath
A Cole & Son wallpaper enlivens the study, which Pentreath outfitted with a custom ebonized mirror above the fireplace and an array of antiques, including a George II lowboy owned by the clients. Photo: Ben Pentreath
The range of Pentreath’s projects is captured in a series of monographs, the third of which, An English Vision, will be published by Rizzoli in the fall. It was the first, English Decoration, from 2012, that sparked the interest of the Wiltshire clients, who were particularly drawn to the yellow Max Rollitt sofa featured on the cover. The husband told Pentreath simply, “That’s what I want.”
But before the designer could begin, the house required significant architectural work, carried out by Snell David Architects. The two-and-a-half-story sandstone mansion had long sat empty, and its slate roof and many of its windows were in desperate need of repair; plumbing and wiring had to be updated.
In the family room, walls painted in Imperial Chinese Yellow by Papers and Paints provide a lively backdrop for pieces such as the Aboriginal painting mounted to the left of the doorway; Pentreath & Hall lounge chairs covered in a Svenskt Tenn fabric mix with a rosewood cocktail table from Westenholz Antiques. Photo: Ben Pentreath
Alexander Calder artworks and a David Hockney landscape from the owners’ collection hang on the kitchen walls, painted in Little Greene’s Atomic Red. The farmhouse dining table was bought at a Christie’s auction, and the antique Carver chair on the end is cushioned in the same Christopher Farr Clothe fabric used for the window shade. Photo: Ben Pentreath
Yet the house, which has seven bedrooms and five baths, exuded plenty of charm, thanks to the original fireplaces and cornices, the drawing room’s tented plaster ceiling, and the oak staircase and fine Regency mahogany handrail. “There was something very romantic about it,” says Pentreath. “It was quite the showstopper, set in a sleepy little village.”
Still, the last thing he—and the clients—wanted to do was create a ye olde English country home pastiche with the decor. “If you only use period elements, you end up living in a shrine to the past,” says Pentreath.
In the primary bath, clad in a Zuber wallpaper, antique animal prints flank a 19th-century burr-walnut mirror above the fireplace. The pendant lantern is by Hector Finch, while a Charles Edwards sconce is mounted next to a bespoke mirror over the vanity, which is by Drummonds. Photo: Ben Pentreath
Striking contemporary artworks by artists such as Ian Davenport and David Hockney, along with unexpectedly daring color choices, lend an air of modernity to the centuries-old house. “The clients pushed for the pimiento red in the kitchen and the saffron yellow in the TV snug,” explains the designer. Offset with crisp white ceilings, moldings, and plasterwork, the zingy hues “bring a real shot of energy,” he notes.
“If you only use period elements, you end up living in a shrine to the past”
Ben Pentreath
The furniture is a handsome mix of antique and vintage pieces combined with custom designs and special commissions such as the primary bedroom’s four-poster bed and a large ottoman in the drawing room that features a dazzling geometric needlework design Pentreath based on an 18th-century paving pattern. “It took about two years to make,” he says, “but it’s the moment in that room where the dial turns up.”
Lined in a de Gournay wallpaper in a custom color, the primary bedroom is anchored by a Beaudesert bed with a headboard in a Veere Grenney fabric and a canopy made with fabrics by Holland & Sherry and Claremont. Photo: Ben Pentreath
Typically, Pentreath starts his furnishing schemes by selecting key pieces he feels will have synergy with the client and the space—“the spark we need to get going,” he explains. Pillows, lampshades, and kilims are the final flourishes. “A great rug,” the designer says, “is like squeezing a nice bit of lemon juice into the salad.”
In contrast to the first floor’s chromatic splashes, the upstairs feels more restful and English. Elegant patterns suffuse nearly every wall, from the lively Morris & Co. Fruit wallpaper in the second-floor guest bedroom to the de Gournay hand-painted chinoiserie paper in the primary bedroom. In the adjacent bath and dressing room, Zuber’s leafy bamboo wall covering winds its way around the expansive space. “It’s almost the best room in the house,” says Pentreath.
An English country estate restored by Ben Pentreath, with a work by Ian Davenport. Photo: Ben Pentreath
The designer describes his work as “a strange alchemy of ingredients,” with every furnishing, fabric, and color choice integral to the whole. The result should be harmonious, authentic-feeling rooms that “appear like I haven’t been there at all,” he says. “That is the dream.”
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Fall Issue under the headline “Updating a Classic.” Subscribe to the magazine.
Cover: An early 19th-century mansion in Wiltshire, England, masterminded by Ben Pentreath.
Photo: Ben Pentreath
