Easy does it

Despite classic proportions and lofty ceilings, Sophie Conran’s country house in Wiltshire blends comfort with intimacy

- Giles Kime

SOPHIE CONRAN’S Wiltshire home demonstrates, very eloquently, the extraordinary adaptability of good architecture. ‘I love Palladianism because it works,’ she says. The qualities that worked in 1795 also do their job in 2021: in particular, the proportion, the light, the windows and the views combine to create a succession of spaces that are friendly, welcoming and charming and blend seamlessly with their bucolic setting.

When she bought the house eight years ago, Miss Conran’s ambition was to ensure that the house looked as if she ‘hadn’t done anything very much’. Anyone who has tried to pull this off will tell you that this particular feat is easier said than done, especially when there was so much to do, not least removing the gloss paint, orange and dark-green carpet and illuminated exit signs that were a legacy of when the house was a bed and breakfast. Most transformative of all, however, was lifting the nylon carpet on the stairs to reveal a magnificent stone floor that glows beneath the vast glass cupola that spans it.