Issue1 TasteBound compressed - Flipbook - Page 29
ou really need to unpick the narrative
of a house in order to tell the story
in the right way. The oldest parts of
Ashcombe Farmhouse date back to
1740, so we loosely based it on the idea
of a Colonial Williamsburg tavern,
which worked particularly well as it’s
very filmic. The bedrooms are really strong – maybe stronger
than you’d have in your own home –with bold wallpaper and
interesting artworks. As it’s a guesthouse where people come
for just a couple of nights at a time, you want them to feel
excited and say, ‘Gosh, come and see my room.’
It’s sad that there are very few lovely old English farmhouse
kitchens left. They’ve all been smashed together to create
massive kitchen islands disproportionate to the size of the
house and which ultimately become dumping grounds for
stuff. I designed Ashcombe Farmhouse to have a really neat
kitchen that feels more like a living space. A kitchen doesn’t
need to be ram-jammed with cupboards and whatever to be
functional. When you cook, how many things do you actually
use? A galley kitchen is all it needs to be.
Classic farmhouse tables invite a feeling of camaraderie and
excitement. My dream dinner party guest is the architect of
whatever house I am working on at the time; it would take
place by candlelight. Round tables are tricky. I’m not deaf but
you can only hear the people on either side of you, so tables
should be a maximum of 2m across. Long rectangle tables are
better so you can triangulate. I enjoy referring to two literary
references: the wedding in Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary,
which contains a wonderful description of a big, crazy rural
banquet; and Henri Alain-Fournier's The Lost Estate, with a
wedding party that affects the main character’s whole life.
Instead of painting gloomy rooms a light colour, go for
something rich. It will define the space and make it quirky
and warm. Antique Ushaks also soften a space – I tend to use
ones with the odd hole, which you can hide under the bed.
Y
PHOTOS: MIGUEL FLORES-VIANNA; DAVID ROBSON; ASHCOMBE ESTATE
Roddy Hamblin, general
manager of The Cashmere
Caveman Co, on bridging the
practical and primordial
Get the
look
Marquis de Seignelay
wallpaper by La Maison
Braquenié, Pierre Frey, £341
per 4.57m roll, pierrefrey.com
Oil on canvas in the style of
Pietro Longhi – a near life-size
portrait of an army officer in the
original frame (Italian, c 1730),
W: 126cm, H: 191c, POA,
edwardhurst.com
Charles Farris tapered candle
made in Wiltshire, £5.50
per pair, murus.art
Antique Kurdish runner with
Mina Khani design (c 1880),
£1,650, haliden.com
Wallpaper immediately creates a sense of history and texture,
but be careful what you pick – you don’t want someone walking
into the room in ten years’ time thinking, ‘This is so 2025.’
Ashcombe × Carousel’s summer season runs until September
2025. Doubles from £350 per night, including breakfast (2
nights minimum). WildKitchen guest chef dinner £175pp,
including drinks and service. For further information, visit
carousel-london.com/ashcombe-estate
Cooking on fire is possibly our last living link
to the mythical, communal past. We’ve
built homes around it, worshipped
gods to protect it. Fire provides a focal
The lakeside WildKitchen at Ashcombe Estate
point – not just visually, but emotionally. It’s
why billions of people still stubbornly wander
off into the garden to cook and prod hot
coals around when domestic practicality
scolds them for doing so.
Most outdoor kitchens isolate the
cook, who's tucked into a corner, fending
off smoke and missing the conversation. We
were keen to find a way to put the chef in the
centre of proceedings. The central firebox system
means that the fire burns more cleanly and
efficiently than an open fire – and because of the
flue, there’s no smoke to contend with.
Luxury here isn’t about marble countertops or
high-tech gadgetry. It’s space, warmth, ease, ritual.
It’s the luxury of unhurried meals and being fully
present. It honours the raw and the ritualistic:
a table that doesn’t smoke you
out, a tent that pulls back to
reveal the stars, a heater that
lets you stay outside through
winter. It’s nature, thoughtfully
engineered for how we live now.
Get the look WildTable 4,
£1,250, ccwildkitchens.com
TA S T E B O U N D
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