Green. It is the colour of fields and trees, plants and grass, of nature flourishing. It is the colour of life. It is also the dominant colour in Home Farm, from the palest pastel on the stone window frames to the deepest, richest tone in the snug.
It is even the colour of the outfits of Debra Hodgson and Sharon Lomas. As owner (Debra) and biophilic design consultant (Sharon), they are in perfect harmony and agreement when it comes to creating a relaxing space for holiday guests at the property in Caldbeck.
Home Farm has been in Debra’s husband Mike’s family for a long time. Their own farm, Midtown, is in the centre of the village and their world revolves around the land and the seasons.
Sharon is a specialist in an interior design concept that nurtures better connection to, and positive interaction with, nature by promoting natural light, improving views to outdoor spaces and incorporating nature’s textures, tones, patterns and materials into homes and workplaces.
“Home Farm had previously been a rental property and was in need of renovation,” explains Debra. “We have another holiday property in the village that has been going for ten years and in that time other holiday lets have come up in Caldbeck. I realised the standard had risen with better bathrooms and kitchens. I wanted ours to be a high standard, and also to be different, individual and not ordinary and to do that I thought I’d better ask for some help.
“It felt like it was going to be a big project and although we weren’t changing the layout I did want to make sure that it flowed well and there was cohesion in the design.”
Sharon had moved to Caldbeck just ahead of the first lockdown in 2020. As well as a designer she is also the founder of Fern + Fell handmade natural candles and a proponent of all things wellbeing. She immediately understood how to create a holiday home that would reflect all that is good about Home Farm’s location – the open landscape, rural settings, fells, rivers, trees, space, peace and quiet.
It begins with Home Farm’s location just a short walk from the centre of Caldbeck, tucked away in a corner facing the village pond. A farm gate opens onto its gravelled drive; to the rear, beyond the orchard, are fields also owned by the Hodgsons.
The project began properly coming out of the second set of lockdowns in 2021 when tradespeople and supplies were more difficult to get hold of. That, together with helping to run the farm and launching projects like Midtown Milk vending, meant it has taken three years to complete.
“It’s an old building and was damp so one of the first jobs was stripping down all the walls and tanking everywhere,” explains Debra.
The front door opens into a spacious hallway that also serves as a boot room and utility space with fitted cupboards and hanging hooks all elevated by Sandberg wallpaper and a bespoke bench made in Cumbrian oak by Forge & Forest, of Hesket Newmarket.
To the left is the kitchen – Benchmarx from Travis Perkins – with a bespoke breakfast bar made and fitted by NewCut Joinery, of Wigton. “Choose the right handles and find the right person who knows what they’re doing,” recommends Debra.
From here, the back door leads out to a private walled garden thanks to the rear walls of other buildings. The outdoor area gets the evening sun then is lit by gentle lighting as dusk follows.
Heading right from the hall leads through an exposed stone doorway into the living and dining space. This is where both designer and owner had the most fun ensuring the house lives up to the “individual and different” mission. The facing wall has immediate impact papered in a design called Enchanted Forest by Mind the Gap. It meets every biophilic test.
“I had my eye on it for quite some time, just waiting for the right place for it,” says Sharon. “It’s quite a whimsical design but you’ve got trees, deer, horses, a lot naturalistic elements in it so it really fits but at the same time it’s not what you would expect in a holiday cottage.”
Debra admits it wasn’t cheap, “but it was worth doing for the impact”.
Explaining where the interior design scheme began, Sharon says: “I did an overall concept in terms of colour, which is when we agreed on the ground floor greens, blues on the first floor and pale tones.”
The ground floor walls are Wevet by Farrow & Ball but this changes dramatically in the snug which is painted fully in Green Smoke that also runs through the living room on the skirting boards.
Sharon explains: “Because the snug is quite a small room with a low ceiling it’s the sort of place you want to retire to when it’s grim outside and get cosy by the fire. We decided to embrace its proportions. By taking that one colour on everything except around the fire, you don’t see the corners, it blurs the boundaries.
Debra has a keen eye and is a whizz on Facebook Market Place, the source of the Laura Ashley dining table and chairs and the mid-century style dark green leather sofas and pouffe in the snug, which came from Walney Island.
“We’ve been lucky because a lot of people buy trends then when the trend has passed, they get rid of things. There is nothing wrong with the furniture they’re getting rid of, it’s just that people want the next thing,” says Debra.
“I gave Debra a brief of what to look for online, the shape of the sofa, the legs and she found the perfect pieces, it’s remarkable,” admires Sharon. “Wherever possible, if you can find a vintage solution it helps keep a project sustainable.”
In the living toom, the Eames chair, from Mitchells auction house, at Cockermouth, followed the brief, but one item where Debra went rogue, however, was the deckchair-striped green sofa from Dunelm, along with the jute rug.
The cushions and blinds were made by Carol Bolton in the village using fabrics by Cabbage and Curtainrail, a national brand founded by Michaela Corrie, who lives near the Lake District, and from Stead McAlpin, at Cummersdale.
The steel tree above the fireplace came from Lowther Furniture, at Brampton.
Debra adds: “As we’ve seen things we’ve bought them and had a collection before the house was finished. I’ve had a lot of things in storage for a long time.
“That’s why she is my dream client,” laughs Sharon, “I don’t like everything new either.”
The vintage pieces are blended with new buys such as light fittings from Dunelm and Habitat.
Sharon adds: “Mixing old and new, the affordable with higher value pieces, means that nothing looks cheap. When you get the blend right, it elevates the inexpensive and everything works together.
Heading towards the stairs and visitors will find a stylish ground floor shower room, perhaps much bigger – despite some space being lost to tanking the walls – and more contemporary than they might expect. “The idea was to keep the bathrooms as fresh and as simple as possible but to create a bit of a wow with nice patterned tiles and taps, which came from CTD in Carlisle and Topps Tiles,” explains Sharon.
There are three good size bedrooms on the first floor, which is where you appreciate the full size of the property, and all of them look out over the garden at the back.
The single beds in the twin bedroom are painted a matte red, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Primer Red. It was not a random choice. Its earthy richness replicates perfectly the red sorrel that explodes around Caldbeck pond and village green in summer.
Wevet on the walls is combined with Farrow & Ball’s Skylight on the ceiling and to picture rail level to provide a canopy of sky.
Youngsters don’t have all the fun though. In the next glamorous double room, another clever fabric design disguises cows’ heads. It is a bit of whimsy in a seriously adult room with Hague Blue walls, a grand bed – another Facebook Market Place find – along with preloved bedside tables from Glenridding and a tallboy picked up in a Newcastle saleroom and smartened up with new handles. One of a pair, its mate is in the other double bedroom which reflects more the décor downstairs with green leaf wallpaper and green velvet curtains and pendant light shade. Another Facebook bed sits between more modern bedside tables topped with lamps from Dunelm.
All the bedrooms are a good size which meant en suite shower rooms could be created without losing too much space, one with warm, brushed brass fittings, the other bright white with a black basin stand and taps and a Crittall-style shower screen.
Now Home Farm is complete and welcoming its first guests. Debra admits it has been a huge investment, but she has one eye on the future when one of her two sons, Angus, will take over the farm.
“Mike and I have said we’d like to retire to Home Farm,” says Debra. And that is all the endorsement the cottage needs.
midtownfarmstays.co.uk
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