Romantics and Classics: Style in the English Country House
English country house style looms large in the collective imagination of Anglophiles, inspiring fantasies of life in a centuries-old manor house filled with chintz and overlooking verdant hills dotted with sheep. However, today’s house owners blend contemporary style with the old bones of their manor houses and country seats, redefining the notion of English country style to create interiors that are chic and intimate.
Historian and author Jeremy Musson will introduce Royal Oak to stunning homes from his just published book Romantics and Classics: Style in the English Country House (Rizzoli, 2021). He will illustrate amazing interiors from houses and country seats—such as Haddon Hall, Smedmore, The Laskett, and Court of Noke—that range from traditional and classic, to contemporary and bohemian.
He will show how each house interior or exquisite garden has become the canvas for the owners’ personality and also adapts traditional English style to a patchwork of old and new, both timeless and modern. One of the homeowners,interior designer Rita Konig will join our discussion to talk about designing the interiors of her stunning country home, North Farm.