A home for all seasons
Above: One of the bedrooms at Summer House
Above: The delightful bathroom
Summer House in Gloucestershire is the home of Bobbie Middleton, an interior designer, and her husband, who moved in almost 14 years ago with their two daughters, Louise and Sarah.
“We chose what we thought was an appropriate name,” says Bobbie of the 18th century six bedroomed house. “We came to see it in early summer and it was heavenly.”
This despite the fact that it had been empty for a year or so and was very run-down with hardly any heating .
“There were just three working radiators and the old stone fireplaces for logs.” says Bobbie.
“But my favourite rose, Madame Alfred Carriere, was climbing over the front walls and there were lots of Cotswold features, flagstones, beams and dormer windows – we could see it had wonderful potential!”
They moved into the house in October (Bobbie having had a major back operation in the interim) and had to live in one room downstairs with a log fire and one bedroom with a bed, two deckchairs and a TV.
“The first thing we did was to install a very powerful oil-fired central heating boiler,” says Bobbie, “which made life a little more civilised!” Over a period of time they replaced the kitchen, opened up fireplaces, redecorated throughout and rationalised the large gardens. “We have two walled gardens and the stone walls in both were falling down and needed rebuilding – beautifully, but at vast expense!
“ In 2000 we put in a swimming pool, and luckily the boiler was strong enough to heat the house in the winter, and the pool in the summer.”
To read the full article and see more pictures of Summer House, get the August issue of Cotswold Life, on sale now.