Innehållsförteckning för British Syle 2016 från Victoria

Don’t Forget For even more inspiration for gracious living, visit our website, victoriamag.com. You’ll find photos, tips, and how-tos on our social media sites, so follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. P.S. Make sure to visit my blog, theribboninmyjournal.com. Traveling the highways and byways of England, we found homes with exquisite charm and manors that captivated our imaginations. For this issue, we compiled some of our favorites, from classic estates with majestic dwellings and manicured gardens to snug cottages that overflow with evidence of the owners’ preferences and imagination. We showcase interiors that salute the warm, relaxed spirit that is symbolic of cottage style and take a look at the formal interiors that shelter centuries of history. From houses both large and small to some of our favorite…

Echoes of the past reverberate in the Mill House, an architectural treasure on the outskirts of Staffordshire, England. Art and enterprise intertwine in the historic waterwheel at the core of this five-story charmer. Mechanisms visible through glass enclosures reveal the estate’s provenance as a former corn mill, while thoughtful details showcase the loving care that has gone into its preservation. The agrarian structure, erected in the early 1800s, narrowly escaped demolition two decades ago after it was nearly destroyed by fire. Shrouded in yellow tape, the area’s only surviving mill had already been condemned when a developer recognized its uniqueness and decided to restore it. In 2010, Kay and Mike Petrouis bought the property and began a twelve-month renovation that continued these efforts. Finding someone to repair the barely functional…

A mere 2 miles south of the bustling metropolis of Wrexham, nestled in the Welsh countryside, stately Erddig Hall transports visitors several centuries back in time. Built in 1687 and preserved with both prized family heirlooms and utilitarian household articles intact, the elegant yet unpretentious manor tells fascinating tales of parallel realities lived beneath the same roof. On the main floor, classic architectural details and graciously appointed interiors hint at the genteel lifestyle of Britain’s upper classes. When wealthy London lawyer John Meller bought the estate in 1714, he enlarged the house substantially, adding onto each side a spacious wing designed in the French enfilade style popular in grand European homes of the day. When the doors were opened, guests reposing in Erddig’s central reception room (called the Saloon) enjoyed…

Kinloch Lodge stands gallantly against the enchanting light, mist, and mystique of Scotland’s Isle of Skye. Overlooking the shores of Loch Na Dal on the Sound of Sleat, this former seventeenth-century dwelling and hunting lodge has become a harbor of welcome. The venerable property has remained in the original family for generations; its current owners, the critically acclaimed cook and food writer Claire Macdonald and her husband, Lord Macdonald, Godfrey Macdonald of Macdonald, High Chief of Clan Donald, opened Kinloch to the public nearly four decades ago. “I had a vision of sharing this wonderful location with others,” says Claire. “I believed we could offer visitors an exceptional Highland experience based on genuine hospitality—which is at the heart of everything we do.” Executed to perfection, the Macdonalds’ generosity has been…

Tucked within a quiet village green between London’s Holland Park and Portobello Road, Helena Gavshon’s 1920s cottage home looks decidedly understated from the outside. Yet inside, her interiors gleam like a jewel box, every room a brilliant montage of color, texture, and pattern. As many who have tried will attest, combining color and pattern—not to mention pattern on top of pattern— can be a daunting task for even the most experienced home decorator. But for Helena, a skilled textile designer of 30 years, this elusive art form has become her signature mark and the talent for which she is most renowned. Even her husband, David, a counselor at Great Ormond Street Hospital, claims to be baffled by how remarkably she achieves such a harmonious and eye-pleasing effect in the midst…

Set against the backdrop of Wales’s Black Mountains and rising from the pastoral slopes of the Wye Valley, magnificent Llangoed Hall once breathed élan into the daydreams of a legendary fabric designer, the late Laura Ashley. The renowned arbiter of romantic taste, revered for Victorian-inspired frocks and English Country manor– style décor, first captivated the world decades ago with her nostalgic, feminine aesthetic. Laura once said her work was not really a question of inspiration but an expression of her affinity for life in the country. Her career trajectory from the 1950s to the 1980s was extraordinary—growing a modest cottage industry that produced silk-screened scarves and kitchen textiles into an international brand with more than two hundred boutiques. Yet, the entrepreneur revealed that the simple joys of motherhood, cooking, and…

Holker Estate and Gardens is believed to be favored by Providence and enhanced with more natural beauty than any other place on earth. It has been the home of only three families since the sixteenth century and has never been bought or sold. Located in northwest England’s Cumbria, near Grange-over-Sands, amid the scenic woodlands and parkland of South Lakeland, Holker (a Norse word meaning “a rising in marshy land”) has been persistently restored and lovingly imbued with a sense of purpose for more than four hundred years. Currently the home of Lord and Lady Cavendish, who have opened a portion of the estate and gardens to thousands of visitors annually, the rose-colored, neo-Elizabethan mansion is now known as one of the best-loved stately homes in Britain. With each passing generation…