The Most Amazing English Country House Of Them All

October 11, 2017
58 Comments
Posted in: interior design

Hey Everyone,

Before we get into today’s beautiful topic. (well, I think so) about the most amazing country house of them all.

WE WON!!!

Yes, WE!!! Because without you, there would be no win. So, thank you, thank you to the many of you who voted. I won by over 800 votes! The contest was for the top 100 interior design influencers nominated on Design Hounds.

So far, I have won an expensive vent hood which I cannot use. lol and a free trip to Orlando for the kitchen and bath show.

I went last year and it was THE best group ever and waaaay too much fun. Veronica Eagleson sure knows how to pamper the bloggers on tour with her.

I’m so, so happy!

See???

And I’ve also been asked to speak on a panel again.

Woof!!!

Oh, and I do have the option to give the vent hood away, so please stay tuned for that.

There is another prize for a trip to Milan and that decision is by a Jury. It is unlikely that I will win that one too. But that is absolutely fine.

So enough about me…

And onto the beauty.

After we spent about two hours–tops at Ben’s, we got on the bus and I searched for my cell phone charger which as I mentioned was nowhere to be found.

Ben was with us on the bus and he took us to neighbors of his in Long Bredy, very close to Little Bredy, where Ben lives. Both are in the county of Dorset.

I honestly didn’t think anything could top Ben’s home.

I was wrong.

Oh, don’t misunderstand. Ben’s house is sublime and I adore it and those gardens, oh my!

But this next place is on a completely different plane.

It is the home of Harriet and Anthony Coote Sykes. They’re blue-bloods, for sure and poor Mr. Sykes, or actually, he might even be a Sir, was in the hospital getting ready for a little foot surgery. However, Mrs. Sykes could not have been a more charming hostess.

We walked into the entry and I nearly passed out.

Not the low blood pressure kind of passing out, but the it’s so incredible, the blood just drained from my head kind of passing out.

The home was built by Anthony Sykes some 20 years ago; his dream home. They named it Bellamont House.

He chose to build it in a “sham” neo-gothic style.

What does that mean?

It means gorgeous architecture together with massive amounts of whimsy and unabashed fakery.

Dang, that phone charger. But never mind. I needed to get pics of this one and we were allowed.

As I mentioned, one of my biggest challenges was getting shots where I didn’t have a close-up shot of someone’s arse because they stepped into the frame just as I snapped.

And while I have some great shots, I have supplemented some from both an amazing spread in Architectural Digest and a couple that Ben had taken and used on his blog. I’ve slowly been reading his blog and if you haven’t, you must. It’s beautiful and a lot of fun.

If you are going to build the most amazing English Country House, it better be on the most amazing English Country Property.

Right?

via Dorset Echo (you can see Harriet and Anthony in this article)

I didn’t see this view either. We are actually looking at the back of the house.

However, I did see this view from the upstairs master bedroom.

This is only a tiny portion of it because the real panoramic view is far greater.

It is a jaw-dropper, for sure!

After a brief introduction by Harriet in front of the house…

This view is in the opposite direction. Ben Pentreath took this image.

Those columns that look just a little too flat are paper.

And there a lot of them!

With a wink and sly smile, Ben said that he had “chastised” Sir Anthony because “The Corinthian order is supposed to be on top.”

Too funny.

But it was about then, that I knew that I had to seize the chance to take photos of empty rooms

I quickly slithered into the adjacent sitting room which is quite large and a maximalist’s English country house dream!

Got it!

Love the sun streaming in.

I did try to follow some of the commentary, but it’s difficult for me under any circumstances.

Some of the paintings are their actual ancestors and some are fakes. (repros) Some are the real thing meaning, genuine old oil paintings.

Then, I quickly ran over to the middle of the room where jutting out is this incredible dining room. More swooning at what I could not believe I was seeing! How gorgeous is this!

Then, I turned around to get the fireplace. I cannot express how fabulous it was standing in this incredible room!

This was such a difficult shot because there was a lamp in my way and I either had to shoot above it or stand in front, but the latter was too close.

Normally, I would’ve liked a little breathing room at the bottom of that fabulous opium coffee table, but overall, I’m happy that I got at least a relatively straight shot.

A slightly closer view which shows more detail and a better view of the Georgian English fender. These are in ALL of the great English country houses. That means they are in pretty much every house we visited.

There are numerous companies that custom-make these fireplace fenders in the UK.

I’m not sure if you can get them here. I mean, you can probably have something like this made. If anyone knows of a great source in the US, please let us know!

Then, they came pouring in– with Ben. Was I listening to a word he was saying? Well, some of it yes, because I remember making a remark about the chintz.

Here’s where it gets really fun!

We used that chintz on two love seats for a job circa 1993 when I was working for another decorator!

It’s from Lee Jofa, but alas it’s been discontinued.

However, I found a few yards on Etsy. (the link is in the widget below)

They should really call it “Heavens To Etsy!” ;]

This is a link for ten yards. Please see the widget for the 3-yard piece.

But while most people were upstairs, I ran back downstairs to see if I missed anything.

Yes! The not-very-big-but-oh-so-charming-kitchen. This is my photo.

Their daughter was visiting with her adorable baby and she came in and we had a lovely convo.

These people are all sooooooo nice and seemed genuinely happy to have us invade their home!

Anthony and Harriet going for a stroll on their property with the dogs and their sheep! I’m still not sure if he has the title of “sir” but he should! So, I’m sticking with it! (I was informed later, that while a gentleman, Anthony has not been knighted by the queen– yet.)