Tour this bohemian Georgian guest house in Devon
The loveliest thing about Glebe House, says Olive Guest, is the uninterrupted view across the Coly Valley. Planted in the East Devon hills near Colyton, it's surrounded by nature, including 15 acres of its own land, where Olive and her husband Hugo grow all their own flowers and vegetables, and keep chickens (plus the occasional pig).
And it’s the landscape that has inspired the furnishings of the house, from William Morris fabrics to strawberry-patterned wallpaper.
A grapevine has even been trained inside, where it clambers around the ceiling of the garden room that provides an entrance to the house.
Hugo’s family have owned the Georgian house, originally built as a vicarage, for 40 years, and had run it as a B&B for about 18 of those, before chef Hugo and artist Olive moved back here to take over the business in 2020.
It has always had an eclectic, slightly bohemian feel, full of creative touches and accumulated family treasures.
Hugo and Olive wanted to maintain that informal spirit, while casting a fresh eye over the decorative style. “We wanted a bit less clutter, and to give each room a distinctive character.”
Pattern was a key element, especially for Olive, whose own paintings hang on many of the walls, and whose inspirations include Charleston, the Sussex base of the Bloomsbury artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant: “Their liberal use of pattern, the freehand murals everywhere–it’s just so joyful.” Pattern at Glebe House isn’t quite so exuberant, but adds the same sense of vibrant energy.
Fruit Fool
Plate 142 Framed Print
Italian Bamboo & Rattan Screen
Country Living Kirkton Sofa
Florence Armchair in Coral Garnet
£1310.00 at love-your-home.co.uk
Rattan Wave Pendant Shade, Natural
Plate 142 Framed Print
TRTC Blue & White Floral Basin
£500.00 at beautifultoilets.com
Fruit Fool Emulsion
TRTC Blue & White Floral Basin
£500.00 at beautifultoilets.com
Little Wild Tulips Wallpaper
William Morris At Home Brother Rabbit Cushion
Apart from making a couple of bathrooms bigger, Olive and Hugo made very few structural changes and enlisted the help of interior designers Studio Alexandra. Whenever possible, they reused furnishings that already had a place in the house, to retain its connection with the past.
The kitchen was redesigned around the original Aga (now converted to electricity). They kept the Greek tiles behind it (bought by Hugo’s parents in the 1970s) and the terracotta floor to maintain the homely farmhouse feel.
The layout was updated to make it practical enough to cater for guests, with tall stools from OKA added at a breakfast bar and contemporary black metal lights hung overhead. The walls were refreshed in Barbouche by Farrow & Ball.
In the sitting room, the old Glebe House grandfather clock and a couple of blue velvet chairs “that have been here for years” are set against the rich pink of Farrow & Ball’s Fruit Fool and paired with a sunshine-yellow sofa found on Facebook Marketplace. Bright patterned rugs and wallhangings, a boldly upholstered armchair from a Somerset antiques shop and accessories in turquoise and emerald all contribute to the Bloomsbury feel.
Bedrooms have each been given a fresh identity: one papered in Ottoline de Vries’s lively Tulip design, another with a joyful yellow ceiling reflecting the morning sun, a third inspired by the copper beech tree outside its window, with soft green walls and a blind in a William Morris print of scrolling acanthus and honeysuckle.
The pattern continues into the bathrooms: one papered in a wild strawberry design by Honor Addington, a local artist inspired by Devon hedgerows; another is hung with framed Redouté prints of Olive's favourite flowers–tulips, sweet peas, anemones, hydrangeas. And several of the bathrooms have flower-patterned washbasins–some vintage, others modern replicas.
Each room is distinctively different, yet each contributes to the unifying theme of the outdoor world. “It’s so inspiring to be entrenched in nature, as we are here,” Olive says, “and we wanted the house to celebrate that.”
Tour the rest of the home
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