ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Life and work spreads through every room in this family house, with antique pieces inspiring new pa erns and interpretations

Every piece tells a story in this Georgian home

Time hangs in the air, with clocks ticking and striking the hours at the Georgian home of artists Elizabeth Harbour and Llewellyn Thomas. ‘Clocks are part of my family history,’ Llewellyn explains, ‘and everyone notices the ticking when they visit us for the rst time. For us it’s part of the soundscape of this house and tells us we’re home.’

Long before the clocks came to live with them, the couple were both

students at the Royal College of Art, studying illustration. The move from London to Kent in 2005 was brought about by their decision to ! nd a family home with their two young children, and to get Llewellyn closer to Maidstone College of Art where he was then teaching.

They purchased half of this Grade II-listed village rectory, built in 1732, for its location, style and size. Llewellyn’s research a "rmed his belief that an ambitious rector called on Queen Anne’s Bounty, a scheme that increased the salaries of poor clergymen, to deliver a 10-bedroom rectory to satisfy his pretensions. Even half of this splendid residence gave the new owners exceptional space, including room for a studio at the top of the house. Artistic space has always been essential for the couple to sustain their working life together as printmakers and designers. And as well as selling their own works, Elizabeth also runs classes in local village halls.

Llewellyn discovered further talents while improving the house: it transpired that he was a bit of a builder, when he rebuilt the front garden wall brick by brick. Next he replaced the south wall of the kitchen with a Georgian glazed screen of his

The collection of antique clocks is a signi cant presence, of course, in the main rooms and hallway

own design that allows light to stream through the kitchen window into the hall. His understanding of historic design practice is such that he knew where to ! nd the correct antique mu " blown glass and lambs tongue moulding to complete the screen. Then he hand-built the kitchen cabinets, sourcing old doors as well as making new ones. All the shutters in the house were folded back and sealed up, so he restored those and constructed new ones for windows that didn’t have any.

The authentic approach the couple have taken to alterations in the house is matched by the choices they made when furnishing and decorating rooms. Very little is new, beyond the pieces Elizabeth and Llewellyn make themselves. The collection of antique clocks is a signi !cant presence, of course, in the main rooms and hallway. ‘ They have come from my father,’ Llewellyn explains. ‘He was an amateur antiquarian horologist and my mother painted more than 3,500 clock dials for the antique clock trade.’ The family connection is particularly evident in the William Cook clock that stands beside the front door. Cook was a London maker and, though the movement dates from around 1700, the clock case was made by Llewellyn’s father using oak from trees that fell down on family land on the Surrey border in the Great Storm of 1987.

An even older clock stands beside the sitting room window, out of direct sunlight. It was made around 1685 by Isaac Papavoine, an immigrant from France, who set up a workshop near Covent Garden. It has been in Llewellyn’s family for 50 years. The clock in the dining room is a

The exterior of this charming Grade II-listed rectory was given a new coat of Farrow & Ball’s All White paint. Metal drainpipes replaced the old plastic ones and homeowner Llewellyn fitted lead drip sills above the lower windows. RIGHT The longcase clock has an early 18th-century movement; Llewellyn’s father made the case. His wife Elizabeth built the little house on the side table from tiny shells.

Reinstated and repaired shutters at the sitting room window mean curtains aren’t needed, but elsewhere textiles are important. Cushions are covered in Elizabeth’s hand-printed designs. The longcase clock dates from the late 17th century.

Unlike many separate dining rooms, the family take meals in this room every day. The early 18th-century gateleg walnut table came from Llewellyn’s family and the 1860s Aesthetic Movement chairs were purchased online. The clock in the corner is by John Thomas.

The kitchen floor tiles are original, with cabinets and shelves made and fitted by Llewellyn. Elizabeth sourced light shades from antiques shops and suitable lengths of flex to bring the fittings down from the high ceiling.

ABOVE, FROM LEFT One of Elizabeth’s hand-painted scenes, House & Horse, sits on top of the toy cupboard made by Sir Hildebrand Harmsworth, a 1930s playboy who kept a Rolls Royce in northern France so he could take a boat across the Channel and drive down to the Med; a dolls’ house Llewellyn made from a kit, then decorated, for daughter Esme, has a permanent home on a vintage plan chest in the hall.

BELOW The American clock above the high mantel was one of thousands to have had its face restored by Llewellyn’s late mother. The Staffordshire dogs inspired Elizabeth’s tea towel design, which many people buy to make up as cushion covers.