TAILOR MADE

Archie and Caddy Mackie renovated a former tailor’s workshop in the Cotswolds to create a rough-luxe haven

- JO LEEVERS

This large tin building once rattled all day long to the sound of Singer sewing machines, used to make tweed suits for Gloucestershire’s well-dressed country folk. It was the village workshop of Smith & Hobbs, a small tailoring company that was founded in 1906 and continued to turn out natty jackets until the 1980s.

‘Before we started work on this place it was derelict, with a leaking roof and dangerous looking electric heaters suspended from the ceiling,’ says Archie Mackie. Six years ago, he and his wife Caddy bought this tin shed as part of their Cotswold cottage (which was featured in the June issue of Country Homes & Interiors) with a view to eventually renovating it. The couple have three children: Sicily, 10, Alfie, eight, and Otis, one, so The Old Tailors, as it’s now called, has come into its own as a family annexe to the main cottage. ‘It’s a place we retreat to for some peace and quiet if we’re working from home,’ says Caddy. ‘Then, at the weekend, we all enjoy long, lazy lunches in here.’