{"id":267640,"date":"2025-11-17T10:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T10:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/267640\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T10:47:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T10:47:11","slug":"an-1800s-cottage-in-derbyshire-that-helped-a-designer-rediscover-his-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/267640\/","title":{"rendered":"An 1800s cottage in Derbyshire that helped a designer rediscover his identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

In many ways this cottage in Darley Abbey, a charming 19th century former mill village on the outskirts of Derby, felt like a homecoming. \u2018This was somewhere I looked at buying my first house 20 years ago, before I ended up moving to London and working in the design world,\u2019 explains Henry, who grew up in Derbyshire. \u2018In a way it sort of represented something from my previous identity before I met Richard.\u2019 Practical, not too big (three floors, with two bedrooms spread the upper two) and close to his parents, it met many of Henry\u2019s requirements. \u2018It wasn\u2019t particularly run-down, just devoid of personality,\u2019 he adds, recalling a bathroom<\/a> that resembled a \u2018metro-tile coffin\u2019, a boxed in stairway that felt like a \u2018tunnel of doom\u2019 and a dark, distinctly 90s kitchen. \u2018It became a quest to give the cottage back its identity and rediscover my own,\u2019 he reflects.<\/p>\n

The first task was to get the bones and layout in order. All of this was done in collaboration with Daniel Bland of The Upland Architect, an architect who Henry had previously worked with on a project, and Daniel handled the delicate issue of planning for the Grade 2 Listed cottage. Chunky 1970s windows were replaced with those that were closer to the Georgian<\/a> ones that would have originally been there, while a small bay extension, fitted with full-height French doors, was added at the rear to transform the dark, east-facing kitchen into a light-flooded space that is now a joy to spend time in. \u2018It was quite contentious, but we got there in the end and we worked very closely with the conservation officer to get all the detailing right,\u2019 explains Henry. \u2018I was probably a bit too much of a perfectionist, but I wanted to create a space that felt right,\u2019 he recalls. \u2018I was very romantic about it and approached it as if it would be my forever home.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Seagrass<\/p>\n

Seagrass squares, sourced from Pentreath & Hall sit atop the wooden boards, while a built-in bench is upholstered in Martyn Thompson’s \u2018Accidental Expressionist\u2019.<\/p>\n

Simon Brown<\/p>\n

Although the house had big windows and high ceilings, the rooms felt a little gloomy, so Henry set about finding ways for the light to penetrate deep into the space. \u2018I wanted a space that felt calm, comfortable and light,\u2019 he explains. The staircase was reconfigured between the upper two floors and a door repositioned to allow more light in, while all of the internal doors were swapped for half-glazed ones to ensure a good flow of light. The first floor bathroom was fitted with double pocket doors, allowing light to pour through into the staircase when they are open.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In many ways this cottage in Darley Abbey, a charming 19th century former mill village on the outskirts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,7885,8434,110595,1120,20782,96,7338,29039,35815,21384,7887,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-267640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-cottages","tag-country","tag-country-cottages","tag-design","tag-designers-houses","tag-entertainment","tag-houses","tag-houses-belonging-to-interesting-people","tag-quiet-interiors","tag-traditional-country","tag-traditional-houses","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}