English Home - June 2010

Yearning for a contemporary take on the traditional English country kitchen Angie and David Hammond have created a fresh, rustic heart to their farmhouse home.

Angie and David Hammond have lived in their Grade II listed farmhouse in Herefordshire, for 14 years. They share their home with their son Harry, 14, and their two dogs Digger and Molly, while their grown up daughter Victoria, runs her interior design business on site.

When the family first moved in, they lived with the kitchen that had been left by the previous owners. It was lined with wooden wall and base units to which the Hammonds added a blue Aga from their former home along with new Corian worktops and a black slate floor. The overall effect, says Angie, "was very dark". Eleven years later the couple had strong ideas when it came to devising a completely new scheme. "We wanted to make it light and airy," recalls Angie. "We wanted traditional English style but with modern functions and with David being an engineer, he was very keen on it being well made." Angie remembers doing her research. "We looked long and hard because we wanted to get it right. We looked at lots and lots of kitchens and then we found Cotteswood, an English furniture maker. When we saw one of the kitchens in the showroom, we both said 'that's what we want,'" she recalls. "Finding an English company with a bit of tradition and being able to see where it was made, was really appealing to us."

After David visited the factory to see how the kitchens were made, Cotteswood designer Glyn Rodney visited the Hammonds at home. "We had ideas of what we wanted, then we had the designer's input when he visited," says Angie. To achieve a light and airy room "David's idea was to get rid of wall cupboards. The designer suggested how to get enough storage elsewhere."

Glyn's storage solution was to install two large housekeepers' cupboards on either side of the Aga, as well as deep drawers below worktops, which provided ample storage for plates and foodstuffs. While still preserving the traditional look of the kitchen Glyn used innovative ideas to improve accessibility, such as the autoshelving that pops out of the cupboards when doors are opened. An under-sink storage unit that incorporates a neat system of four recycling bins, and a bespoke bread box for Angie, who dislikes
bread bins, is another clever way of hiding clutter. Only one curved wall cabinet has been allowed to appear as a feature. "The booze cupboard," laughs Angie, "an essential part of the kitchen."

The style of kitchen that the couple chose was Cotteswood's Revival range. Based on Georgian furniture design it combines "a mixture of solid oak, oak veneered and lacquered pieces, mixed with cabinets painted in Cotteswood's Verdigris," confirms Glyn. It was the combination the couple had fallen for in the showroom. "I love the old fashioned, warm, homely feel of oak," reveals Angie.

The kitchen was made in the factory off site and installed by two men from Cotteswood. The entire process from Glyn's initial home visit to completion took a very reasonable three months and cost a total of £23,000 including appliances, but excluding their new paler coloured, cream Aga.

Three years on, the Hammonds are still delighted with the result. "I can honestly say hand on heart that I'm really pleased with what we've done," claims Angie. "It's the centre of the house."