French Connection

When artist Georgie Maynard put her stamp on an English country home, she infused it with a strong flavour of France.

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A winding Dorset lane flanked by high hedges leads to Georgie Maynard’s picturesque 18th-century home, overlooked by a stately eucalyptus tree, with views of a private estate. ‘My late husband and I were looking for a smaller property, but having restored six English houses and four in France, I was keen to find something that didn’t require any major building work,’ says Georgie.

Having had so much experience of stripping properties back to their bare bones, Georgie was delighted to find that, in this case, the previous owners had carried out a perfect renovation project. They had knocked the farmhouse and cottage into one,with a meticulous eye for detail and making decisions Georgie approved of, using top-notch materials. ‘I felt there wouldn’t be much more to do than make it all pretty – and that’s the easiest part,’ says Georgie.