A 500 year old house with the original builders’ stone plaque set in the front to prove it!

The clients had set themselves a target of two years to find their dream country home near Petersfield in Hampshire. And it took them all of a week! They received details of a range of properties from agents that first week and this 500 year old beauty was amongst them. Fast forward to the day after the viewing: their offer was accepted and the dream home was theirs.

As fate would have it, we had appeared on their radar previously when they had visited our neighbourhood, admired our bespoke kitchen showroom and left with a feeling that we were the right people to create one of our bespoke shaker style kitchens once they managed to find their forever-home in the country.

So after securing their old house, they invited Charlie along – which didn’t take much persuasion! – to see the property. It was under restoration and was obviously a big project with plenty to do and time to match. Just take a look at the before shots to appreciate the transformation into one of our bespoke traditional kitchens.

The home was inspiring; still so gloriously full of character after 500 years and the perfect setting for one of our ‘KINGHAM bespoke kitchens. The cherry on top was the extensive gardens: a truly idyllic setting for a new life in the English countryside near Petersfield in Hampshire.

A quick aside from shaker kitchens: I was shown the upstairs and I observed something truly amazing, the whole of the first floor’s original floor boards were intact, and when I say original I mean 500 years old. There was nothing on earth that could replicate the glorious patina created by all those years of gentle wear. With time, the floors had ever so slightly bent and bowed creating this fantastic gentle undulation. It’s hard to describe in words the sheer beauty of them, it really was something special.

Anyway, back to our project! The initial design meeting was scheduled so we could start on the layout of the kitchen, the dining area and the utility come boot room. Working hand in hand with the clients, who had wonderfully clear ideas on how the rooms were going to look, we finalised all the details including colours and finishes. These were agreed and completed in record time: about one coffee!

Classical shaker bespoke kitchens were the inspiration for simple cornices and wonderfully subtle profiled heritage mouldings. The colours were chosen to be in keeping with both the traditional Shaker feel and the property’s heritage, mixing shades of grey and green from the Little Greene Company. The hardware, with its pewter finishes, was chosen for its utilitarian edge. This project was going to be a real ‘KINGHAM’ Shaker gem.

Over the next few months, Charlie kept a close eye on how the restoration was progressing so he could schedule the installation of the cabinetry. Apart from a three month delay due to bat droppings being found and a preservation report carried out, the building works were completed smoothly and they were finally ready for us! 

Charlie hadn’t anticipated having to fight off his installation and painter teams who desperately wanted to be ‘stuck’ in this village for a few days. Did we mention the one and only ‘local’ serves some of the best local ale and fare?

Now the bespoke kitchen project near Petersfield in Hampshire is completed, we think the images speak for themselves, along with the clients’ joy and total satisfaction. Maybe this can serve as inspiration for your Kingham Shaker kitchen!

To read more about our full offer of bespoke shaker kitchens and other collections, head to our homepage for inspiration!