Modern Tudor Hunting Lodge

Some lovely clients who live in Bray asked me to design a new front door for their 1960s bungalow. The building had a nice interior and garden but from the road no curb appeal, no swagger. Crushingly boring. They hoped that a new front door might improve it which I thought interesting. I told them how some people in the past had asked me for a new front door and I had ended up redesigning their whole house. We all laughed...

I took a photo of the front of the existing house and drew it up as a modern version of a gothic hunting lodge. It’s very difficult to equate the two. Now even though it is one of the smaller cottages, it is certainly one of the prettiest around the green. 

The work consisted of some beautiful hand carved barge boards. With copper capped finials, a beautiful new set of front doors, with antique stained glass in the pierced fret work, with stained glass casements either side. Over the doors is a demi lune window, featuring a huge sunburst in stained glass, providing light to the upstairs landing.

A terrace now runs along the front of the house, with hand carved Oak newel posts. Again with matching copper finials and blind trefoils carved into the octagonal spindles. Inside we made a beautiful gothic carved staircase & fitted oak skirting with a simple stopped chamfer carved into them.

We also designed a lovely Art Deco bar for inside the house. We designed the bar using bright lacquered black walnut wood with an oak interior and top, incorporating striking black and gold ray skin effect leather panels. We also designed and made a floating record player unit, with storage beneath for LPs and singles. Record players have become increasingly popular once again. There is something magical about playing vinyl, a ceremony of sorts. Looking at the album cover and putting the record on the turntable, so it is lovely to have a specially designed unit for such a situation, rather like a simelias job when drinking fine wine.

We later also designed some matching art deco bar stools from oak upholstered in the same striking black and gold ray skin effect leather.