NATURE’S FINEST

A mix of vintage finds and modern touches has brought a Victorian farmhouse in Dorset back to life

Matt and Alice Cobon had a long wish list for the kind of home they were looking for when they started house-hunting in the West Country. ‘Ideally, we wanted to be in a village that was in easy reach of London but that also felt as if you had escaped to the proper countryside,’ explains Matt.

The couple and their daughters Clemmie, six, and Grace, three, have a home in London, where Alice works in finance. Matt was a fund manager for 20 years, but gave it up three years ago to become the stay-at-home parent. It took the family a year to find their country home: a former Victorian dairy farm with an unconverted barn.

‘We wanted a doer-upper, so the barn made it even more attractive to us,’ Matt says. And as soon as they

saw the barn, they realised it could be the new hub of their home. Now a large kitchen-diner/living space, it leads out to a seating area and outdoor kitchen, which suits Matt as he’s a keen cook. The kitchendiner is decorated in modern rustic style, while the smaller rooms in the farmhouse itself are a mix of traditional and contemporary.

In the snug, the original flagstones had been hidden beneath carpet and the old fireplace had long since been taken out, so Matt and Alice reinstated it, adding wall panelling in keeping with the age of the farmhouse.

Elsewhere, an inglenook fireplace had been painted in layers of white paint, which they painstakingly stripped back. ‘The house was definitely a diamond in the rough and we tried our best to bring out its lovely old features, while adding vintage furniture and a few modern twists of our own,’ says Matt.

Having stepped away from his career, Matt enjoys the outdoor life that his home offers, including the alfresco kitchen, which comes into its own in the summer. ‘Cooking is my way of being creative and luckily it’s something that all the family can enjoy.’ And there’s also 16 acres of land, including a meadow, to consider. Having transformed the farmhouse into a family home, Matt is ready to spend more time on the outside. ‘I have a dream of making it into a place where we can grow vegetables, fruit and nuts for ourselves and the people who come to stay,’ he smiles.

FUTURE PLANS ‘We’ve nurtured the house, and now we want to grow organic food in the garden and turn the meadow into a haven for wildlife’

OUTDOOR KITCHEN Throughout the summer, this sunny area is the hub of family life. Air chair, £119, Jasper Morrison for Magis at Made in Design. Eames DSR side chair, £255, The Conran Shop

KITCHEN-DINER Warm timber is set against plain white walls, brickwork and marble surfaces. Kitchen, price on application, DEVOL. Aplomb concrete pendants, £336 each, The Conran Shop

1&3 KITCHEN-DINER/ LIVING AREA This space, in the converted barn, has modern rustic style with vintage finds. Cabinet, price on request, DEVOL. Find vintage chairs, from £6o, at Vinterior 2 HALLWAY One of the enticing outside areas is glimpsed through this doorway. For a similar wooden garden chair, try Forest Garden Saratoga, £122, Argos

1 SNUG Vibrant blue enhances the traditional style of the new panels. Atlantic Blue matt emulsion, £18 for 2.5ltr, Dulux, is similar. Shag rug, from £80, The Real Rug Company 2 SITTING ROOM A modern light works well here with layers of country-house comfort. Beat Stout pendant, £815, Tom Dixon 3 HALLWAY This space links the converted barn with the original farmhouse. Cherry sculpture, £100, John Lewis & Partners, is similar

EN SUITE The couple created this bold space tucked behind a partition wall in their bedroom. Lucian N bath, £3,400, Copperfield Baths. Victorian Blue metro tiles, £24.50sq m, Ceramic Planet

MASTER BEDROOM Copper wall lights bring a hint of modernity to this pale scheme. Base wall lights, £600, Tom Dixon