{"id":436041,"date":"2026-02-20T11:56:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436041\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T11:56:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:56:06","slug":"a-grand-classical-house-in-somerset-by-christian-bense-perfectly-balanced-between-tradition-and-modernity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436041\/","title":{"rendered":"A grand classical house in Somerset by Christian Bense, perfectly balanced between tradition and modernity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Working on the fly, Christian and Lexi began to evolve an interior that would pay respect to the classic country-house aesthetic without falling into familiar clich\u00e9s. Their fast-paced design process took on a semblance of tightrope walking. In those spaces that felt particularly traditional \u2013 the kitchen, for instance, where they opted to work with existing cabinetry \u2013 they amped up the modernity with strong lines in the furniture, or punchy artworks. But if their schemes began to feel a little too edgy, they\u2019d let in a few country-house elements to compensate. In the dining room (once the entrance hall), an alarming life-size clown figure and sculptural Lindsey Adelman ceiling light have to play nicely with the elegant panelling and uber-trad, gilt-framed oil paintings.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Image may contain Indoors Interior Design Kitchen Home Decor Plant Kitchen Island and Furniture\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-eNxvmU cfBbTk responsive-image__image\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/250429_H_G_Christian_Bense_009_Tiff_8_Bit_sRGB-production_digital.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The pantry has Fosbery Studio lights, with bespoke fabric shades in the same Tissus d\u2019H\u00e9l\u00e8ne check as the blind, complementing cabinetry in \u2018Bassoon\u2019 by Little Greene and below-sink curtains in Morris &amp; Co\u2019s \u2018Ruskin\u2019 linen in mustard.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Sinclair<\/p>\n<p>\u2018One key decision was that we wouldn\u2019t use printed linen, as it\u2019s something you see in every <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houseandgarden.co.uk\/topic\/traditional-country\" isautogenerated=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">traditional country<\/a> house,\u2019 says Christian. \u2018So we restricted ourselves to woven or embroidered fabrics, or those with a pattern intrinsic to the nature of the material. It was hard \u2013 but ended up adding a new dimension to the interior.\u2019 While there isn\u2019t a whisper of chintz anywhere, it did feel important to bring a sense of the garden into the house, especially as the client was keen to replant the surrounding wildflower meadows. Florals have, therefore, been allowed, but in unexpected ways. The vast proportions of the garden room next to the kitchen, used as a playroom, are highlighted by a Cox London \u2018Magnolia Grandiflora\u2019 chandelier while, in the hall, artist Tess Newall has sketched onto the walls ethereal monochrome flowers that drift up the stairs on a pale pink background.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Image may contain Home Decor Architecture Building Dining Room Dining Table Furniture Indoors Room and Table\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-eNxvmU cfBbTk responsive-image__image\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/250429_H_G_Christian_Bense_001_Tiff_8_Bit_sRGB-production_digital.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A bespoke Cox London \u2018Magnolia Grandiflora\u2019 chandelier hangs above shearling-covered 1940s-style club chairs from 1stDibs. A Rachel Donath travertine table is teamed with retro chairs in Rose Uniacke\u2019s robust \u2018Woven Bottle\u2019 fabric. On the far wall\u00a0is Faye Wei Wei\u2019s painting Prince Heart Knuckles, 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Sinclair<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Working on the fly, Christian and Lexi began to evolve an interior that would pay respect to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,8434,1120,96,21383,7888,33918,20779,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-436041","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-country","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-houses-by-members-of-the-list","15":"tag-houses-by-our-top-100-interior-designers-architects","16":"tag-modern-country","17":"tag-modern-houses","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436041","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=436041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}