DOLL & Co. gets the green light

Scroll down to see details of our ambitious new project in Berkshire and step back in time at two famous Victorian studio-homes with our team.

Extensive remodelling of Grade II-listed Berkshire manor

This month has seen us nearing the construction phase of a contemporary extension on a client’s Grade II-listed manor house in Berkshire. 

We worked with the lovely team at Whaleback to deliver a successful planning result, which allows us to carefully restore and celebrate original features, while removing later, lesser quality additions to the building. In their place, we’ve designed a contemporary extension with floor-to-ceiling glazing that will give the family uninterrupted views of the surrounding gardens and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty beyond. It’s set to be a striking design that sensitively merges the old with the new. 

The wider scheme includes a new outdoor pool and a pool house in a dark charred timber barn, which will be connected to the main house via a glazed walkway. Watch this space for more updates and final pictures of the end result.

Team day out at Leighton and Sambourne House 

At DOLL & Co., we’re always on the hunt for inspiration and sometimes it can be found a stone’s throw from our own doorstep. While our team is busy working on an upcoming private residential property near Holland Park, they managed to escape to the nearby Leighton House and neighbouring Sambourne House. The magnificent buildings, with largely untouched ornate interior details, were home to celebrated Victorian artist Frederic Lord Leighton and Punch magazine illustrator Edward Linley Sambourne. 

While Edward Sambourne moved into an almost new property in the late 1800s, Frederic Leighton built his studio-home from scratch under the watchful eye of architect George Aitchison. He added to it like a patchwork quilt over the years, with a series of extensions, such as the impressive Arab Hall that is elaborately decorated with tiles he collected from the Middle East. We also took a wander through the Winter Studio where the glass conservatory-style structure used to provide plenty of light for him to work during the darker months. 

While Edward Sambourne moved into an almost new property in the late 1800s, Frederic Leighton built his studio-home from scratch under the watchful eye of architect George Aitchison. He added to it like a patchwork quilt over the years, with a series of extensions, such as the impressive Arab Hall that is elaborately decorated with tiles he collected from the Middle East. We also took a wander through the Winter Studio where the glass conservatory-style structure used to provide plenty of light for him to work during the darker months.  Shapes, light and textures were shared by the team, as well as wry observations around Leighton’s unbound freedom from modern planning permissions... 

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