Character, history and style
ALONG, L-shaped timber-frame house, set within a wide moat, Columbine Hall is a very English and beguiling house. From its late-14th-century origins, it has evolved, as manors do, modestly adjusting and adapting over time. But the building’s medieval character still predominates, the gabled form reflected in the encircling water (Fig 1).
Columbine Hall has been subject to a tactful and well-informed programme of restoration since the house and 30 acres were acquired by Hew Stevenson, formerly chairman of a large group of regional newspapers, and his wife, Leslie Geddes-Brown, a writer with a long association with COUNTRY LIFE , not least as a gardening correspondent. They have worked to provide a fitting degree of modern comfort, as well as bringing out the best of the house’s historic character. In 2014, for example, modern cement render that was damaging the ancient timbers was entirely replaced by traditional lime.
“The overall effect is contemplative and architectural, conveying a sense of poetry’
It is not only the house that has been transformed; the surrounding gardens, outbuildings and landscape have all received careful attention. The large timber-frame barn, its walls
