Country Living UK Modern Rustic 20

Marrying old and new, carrying out sympathetic renovations or creating new architecture in line with its surroundings has been a cornerstone of Modern Rustic since its inception. It’s definitely a rare skill, one that is thankfully becoming more appreciated and one that we explore especially in this issue. Designer Majeda Clarke worked on the footprint of an old derelict worker’s cottage (page 100) to create a streamlined building tucked into the side of a hill. It sits among the treetops on stilts, so it is barely noticeable from the road above or from beneath, and has spectacular views for miles out to the Dorset coast. Indeed, I drove straight past it and got terribly lost on the way to our photo shoot, and its discreet exterior was a challenge to capture,…

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WOODEN IT BE NICE Fran Derham and Michael Robertson designed this rural getaway, which relies heavily on natural materials and especially timber, with the help of architect Nick Byrne. The design pays homage to classic agricultural buildings in Australia. Michael, a builder, used his long-collected salvaged timber stock – a mix of scented oregon, ironbark and silvertop ash SPACE TO BREATHE The design marries two buildings, one for storage with potential for future projects, which enables the main building to be streamlined and free of clutter OPEN & HONEST The interior combines a soaring concrete structure, plenty of wood and lots of glazing that connects the building to the landscape NEW TRADITION The idea for the build began as a project for Michael – and at weekends, for four years, the couple lived in their caravan on…

BACKDROPS PAINTED IN RAILINGS (FARROW-BALL.COM) & HARI (ATELIERELLIS.CO.UK)…

A GRAND FEAT Interior designer Stella Orsini did most of the work with her husband during lockdown when it was impossible to employ craftsmen. The house nestles into the hillside amid vineyards and a tangle of chestnuts and is only accessible on foot, so many materials for the property, which was literally dismantled and rebuilt, had to travel by helicopter RURAL CHARM The one-bedroom house covers just 35 square metres. Along with the open-plan kitchen – featuring a worktop of 1930s cement tiles – is a living room, bathroom and wooden slatted terrace resting on the rocks IN AND OUT With its new interiors, the house feels very authentic and ‘aged’ and in keeping with its rustic setting. Traditional finishes and materials, lime-plastered walls with natural pigments, a dark stone floor and unfinished chestnut wood…

Children seeing a sheep’s fleece unrolled on the classroom floor, straight from the shearing, are awestruck by the raw immediacy of the material that goes into the clothes they wear. It gives them new respect for the wool, says Clare Lewis, who teaches weaving one day a week in local schools near her New Forest home. And it’s those materials and their natural shades, from creamy white to deep peaty brown, that inspire her own weaving – along with the colours of the forest. “Having this landscape to roam in is such a privilege,” she says. CIare grew up in the area and has been back here, just outside Fordingbridge, since 1995, after studying textile design at Central Saint Martins and UCA Farnham. She specialised in woven fabrics because she liked…