TOP: A sofa and chairs are arranged around a carved chimneypiece in the library
LEFT: The bed and half tester in the master bedroom were designed by Thomas
Messel and the chandelier is Venetian glass
ceiling drawing room of elegant proportions, with fine plasterwork
cornices and three tall windows commanding views of the gardens
and, above, two grander and more fashionable bedrooms.
Over the years, the house has been fortunate to have sympathetic
and artistic owners. In the seventies, Adrian Garnett and his
journalist wife, Polly Devlin, did much to maintain the beauty of
the place. They built the grotto in the grounds and asked John
Stefanidis to advise on the decoration of the hall. Thomas and Pepe
Messel have made the house both a lively base for the activities
and a reflection of their wide tastes and talents. Their thorough
restoration of the structure included converting small, cluttered
rooms into a large kitchen and dining room, and the removal of
an awkward corridor on the upper floor to allow the reinstatement
of the original enfilade arrangement of the bedrooms. Describing
their varying levels of architectural grandeur and decorative
elaboration or simplicity Thomas designates these rooms as ‘first
112 Bridge for Design December 2015