For a country escape within easy reach of London, it's hard to find a more luxurious spot than Coworth Park near Ascot. Its 240-acre grounds contain much to please the most discerning visitor – a historic main house with a fine dining restaurant, Woven, a glorious and freshly renovated spa, endless wildflower meadows and even a couple of polo fields. One of the key creative minds behind all of this is the interior designer Martin Hulbert, who has worked on the serene interiors of the hotel since its inception in 2010. His latest project has been the transformation of the Dower House, a three-bedroom house on the estate available for private hire.
When Martin originally decorated the house, an 18th-century building designed to resemble a Tudor cottage the brief was for ‘country chintz', a look which he now laughingly refers to as ‘very florid, with a hint of Hyacinth Bucket.’ The new incarnation could not be more different. ‘We wanted to create a relaxed feel, with an interior that feels as if it belongs to the architecture, with nothing that challenges the eye.' The palette is now full of gentle, organic colours and refreshingly free of flowery patterns.: butter yellow, terracotta and biscuit make for a harmonious interior. ‘The colour scheme now reflects the natural environment and the wildflower meadows views.Apart from belonging more, I think these faded earthy tones are more relaxed and long lasting.’
This organic feel is reflected in the wonderful materials that run throughout the house, creating a softly textured feel. 'The textiles are a mix mostly of linen, wool and mohair,' explains Martin. ‘The linen for the curtains has a good weight which helps it to hang in a softer, more drapey way. It has the stone washed texture of vintage linen. The mohair upholstery is deeply comfortable and is extremely durable (even scrubbable), and I’ve used humble ticking stripes here and there, which just seem to belong in a building of this humble style."
While the house has to cater to the varied visitors who might come to it, whether that's British staycationers or families from abroad making this their first stop on landing at Heathrow, it still has plenty of personality. Much of this comes from a striking art collection, part characterful portraits and part charming botanical prints. ‘We wanted the art to add another gentle layer of personality and atmosphere,’ explains Martin, ‘particularly in the entrance hall where the portraiture collection tells a story about bringing together a sense of its past and future guests.’
The house has an impressive amount of space to spread out in – a spacious kitchen plus a utility room and dedicated wine room, a dining room, study and elegant sitting room. Upstairs, leading off two galleries, is the main bedroom with dressing room and ensuite bathroom, plus two more bedrooms with ensuites. There is also an outdoor dining space with a barbecue and a lawn overlooking the lake. The house is infinitely flexible – the hotel will stock the pantry for you or have the chefs come down to prepare tailored meals – and could work perfectly for a family or for a group of friends. Everything has been designed to be intuitive and supremely comfortable. It has one of our favourite features in a hotel – charging points absolutely everywhere you look – plus atmospheric lighting schemes and plenty of storage.
‘A house like this has to be extremely serviceable but appear effortless,’ concludes Martin. ‘I think the kind of guests who stay here are similar to our residential clients. They all want to live or stay in a beautiful place, be themselves and enjoy their freedom in privacy.’ We can't imagine anywhere nicer to do it.
Rates at the Dower House start from £5,000 including VAT per night. dorchestercollection.com
