When Danish farmhouse meets Georgian rectory…

When India Hicks lifestyle brand entrepreneur and hotelier husband David Flint Wood commissioned Barr Group to build their Oxfordshire family country home, every brick, roof tile, fixture and fitting, right down to the custom-made kitchen cabinetry, we were more than delighted. India’s book Island style was a clue to the level of detail, design-led focus and avant-garde chic that they would be striving to accomplish.

The Barr Kitchens team quickly found themselves at the heart of the matter. The team worked closely with David and India, designing a kitchen which took its inspiration from, amongst other special places, India’s Oxfordshire childhood home. As self-confessed slaves to symmetry, the whole house was designed to offer perfectly proportioned balance, from overall architectural design to the finer interior detailing…and the kitchen was certainly no exception.

The glazed dresser style cabinetry which flanks the Aga was designed for perfect balance and inset island seating is bordered by matching deep draw sets. Belgium bluestone counter top sits centrally under a pair of perfectly positioned industrial pendant lamps. Even the tumbled limestone flagstones sit in obedient alignment.

A huge reclaimed oak kitchen table was hand made in the Barr Kitchens workshop, with bespoke ‘wishbone’ legs (made by our local metalsmith collaborators) to compliment the distinctive Hans Wenger dining chairs.

The property itself, of course offers splendid Georgian-esque symmetry, with perfectly balanced fenestration, punctuated by a single central porthole window above the pillared front entrance. Permission had been granted to demolish two redundant farm worker cottages and to build a substantial family country home on the site. Henley based Architects Nichols Brown Webber were briefed to design the house and surrounding landscape according to their clients leanings towards traditional symmetry along with their leaning towards the airy breezy architectural style of the West Indies, where they reside for most of the year. “A major part of the design challenge for us was in that every time a change was made it had to be considered and mirrored at the other side of the house” says lead project architect Ian Brown.

In a feature article for Architectural Digest India and David recall the drivers behind each of their individual style preferences and their joint inspiration for their English country home. The property and the Flint Wood-Hick’s family are featured in the international publication in all their elegant, eclectic glory. “The first night the seven of us stayed in the house it felt like a home” David Hicks. To read more click here.

India’s stunning and undeniably individual ‘home’ style can be seen in all of its balanced-eclectic glory in her book ‘A Slice of England’ - which zooms in on her Barr built family home in the Oxfordshire countryside, as well as the houses of her childhood, her parents and her ancestry.

At the Barr Group we aspire to ‘construct excellence’, with projects that are as exciting in design as they are challenging to deliver. We design, build and manufacture for like-minded clients, who share our vision for quality and excellence. This wonderful project epitomises our mission statement and was a joy for every member of the Barr Group team to work on.