This mock-Georgian family home in Wiltshire is a masterclass in traditional English interiors with a playful twist

‘When we first moved in, we knew that the house had huge potential to be adapted to our specific needs,’ says Fi Harper of her Georgian-style home, built on the site of an old grain store in 2005 by a local landowner. She shares it with her husband, John, their children, Betsy, Nancy and Angus, and their dogs, Mop, Nellie and Otter.

While a double-height, wood-heavy entrance hall had the feel of a barn conversion, other areas sported a more traditional period design style. ‘Much of our work has been about consolidating the aesthetic so it reads as a coherent Georgian manor house rather than several houses in one,’ she says.

The couple had previously renovated a listed Georgian rectory, which inevitably imposed some design constraints. ‘What appealed to us here was the freedom. This house wasn’t listed, so we could open things up, move things around, make it truly ours,’ explains Fi.

They had first fallen for the Wiltshire property in 2017. Though of a similar size to the rectory, its surrounding land was much more practical. ‘That was the real draw: space for the horses, room for a pool and tennis court. We traded scale indoors for more outdoors, and it’s suited the way we actually live so much better,’ she adds.

Yet the process was not without its setbacks. The sale unexpectedly fell through, and the Harpers had to wait until 2020 before the property came back on the market, when, luckily, their patience was rewarded.

Another four years passed as the family settled in, and, as Fi became familiar with her surroundings, her vision for the interiors began to grow. She planned a series of structural changes with Sam Evans of SE Architecture and engaged Stonewood Builders, who had previously constructed the pool house, but the final piece of the puzzle was missing.

‘With a project this size, it would have been nigh-on impossible to finish it - and stay sane - without help,’ she adds.

It was interior designer Sean Symington who caught Fi’s eye. ‘I’m an avid property and interiors nerd, so I was following Sean on Instagram, loving his colourful, irreverent take on traditional English interiors,’ she explains. ‘Then I realised he was local, practically up the road, in fact!’

From their first contact, the two established an immediate rapport, with Fi presenting stacks of sketches and fabric samples and Sean drawing on the extensive knowledge and expertise he had gained running his eponymous studio to bring her ideas to life.

The initial phase of the project focused on reworking the house’s architecture. ‘The whole first floor was rearranged, and it took a lot of time moving the walls and establishing the layout,’ recalls Sean.

The kitchen was reoriented to make the most of the picturesque views, while the reception hall was enlarged to provide a formal dining space. Other rooms were repurposed into a back kitchen, cloakroom, wine room and study. Upstairs, a tangle of smaller rooms was opened up to create generous en-suite bedrooms.

When attention turned to decoration, Fi and Sean worked in perfect harmony. Fi’s desire for joyful rooms with a relaxed, layered feel was complemented by Sean’s more cohesive aesthetic. ‘It was a good balance where I like things a bit more “matchy matchy” and Fi was very “non-matchy matchy". She loved it to look like it was all thrown together and collected over time, whereas I was trying to hone it a bit more,’ Sean says.

The pair spent many an hour perusing the vast array of textiles at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, and it was from a selection of hero fabrics that the schemes unfolded. ‘Each room found its palette gradually through all that looking and layering rather than being decided in one sitting,’ explains Fi.

Lee Jofa’s Tree of Life inspired the vibrant colours of the drawing room, while the brand’s Taplow was used throughout the transitional spaces. ‘We kept it for the hall, stairs and landing. It has all the colours that worked in the house, so it’s a good link between all the rooms,’ says Sean.

Meanwhile, Colefax and Fowler’s Emmeline - a favourite of Fi’s - provided a jumping-off point for the principal bedroom, where it now takes pride of place on the headboard.

Fi credits her rather eclectic and extensive collection of furniture and furnishings to her childhood, when she had to trail through antique shops and auction rooms. ‘I absolutely didn’t appreciate it at the time, but something must have rubbed off,’ she adds. To ensure these pieces settled within the reworked interiors, some ‘judicious editing’ and alterations were required.

‘Every chair (and there were a lot) needed to be reupholstered, which was no small task,’ explains Fi, as Sean adds, ‘It was a lot of moving things around and reinventing by reupholstering and adding fringing and piping.’

The interior design was further shaped by Fi and John’s passion for entertaining. From the dining area to ‘Carson, the rather camp 1920s cocktail cabinet’, the house is primed for joyful celebrations and elegant soirées.

‘Sean understood that he was designing a house that would need to stand up to some serious entertaining,’ says Fi. ‘Part of the brief was to get as many beds in as possible because for us, the best part of hosting is when everyone stays. That’s why we put the bunk room in, future-proofing for grandchildren but also perfect for overflow guests!’

Indeed, it did not take long for the house to fill up. With John’s upcoming birthday party imposing a strict deadline, the project was completed in a year. The family moved back in on Friday, and every one of the seven bedrooms was occupied on Saturday.

Through a considered reworking of the layout and vibrant interiors with a distinctly English country feel, this Wiltshire house has become a warm, welcoming and, perhaps most importantly, cohesive home. For more inspiration from Sean’s impressive portfolio, step inside this colourful Bath townhouse which blends traditional and youthful, colour and calm, the influences of two cultures, and a country feel in a Georgian townhouse.