Surrey Homes | SH54 | April 2019 | Garden supplement inside

Previous page: The walls in the drawing room are painted in
Bone by Farrow & Ball Top: The tiled floor is original
Left: The kitchen is painted in Cactus by Neptune
Anyone with a penchant for the roaring Twenties is in
for a treat at Battel Hall. Slip into the world of the
Bright Young Things and imagine yourself as the
most dazzling character from Evelyn Waugh. This really is a
house that was meant for entertaining... and not in a hottub
and minibar kind of way. Think country house style,
whiskeys by the open fire and giddy games of hide-and-seek.
It should come as no surprise then, to discover that the
interior designer behind this remarkable building on the Leeds
Castle Estate was inspired by its previous owner, the American
heiress and high society hostess, Olive, Lady Baillie (her
mother was Pauline Whitney, of the famous Whitney family).
“Lady Baillie brought Leeds Castle back to its former
glory while introducing a level of modern luxury,” says
interior designer Francesca Rowan Plowden, who is behind
the recent refurbishment. “She created a place of serenity
and calm, yet also a place of celebration, parties and fun.”
Visitors to the Castle – and Battel Hall – in Lady Baillie’s
day included Charlie Chaplin, Errol Flynn, Douglas Fairbanks
Snr, Barbara Hutton, Ian Fleming, James Stewart, Gertrude
Lawrence and Edward VIII (who was still Prince of Wales
at the time) and Mrs Simpson. Glittering company.
It was with this in mind that Francesca approached
the ambitious restoration and refurbishment of the 14th
century hall house. “I wanted to create a sense of luxury
but also a home away from home,” says Francesca. “I didn’t
want it to be sterile and intimidating, like some hotels.”
Francesca has done this by using rich colours and
patterns, woollen throws, velvet cushions and sheepskins:
“I’m a fan of big puddles on curtains too,” she says.
By this she means an abundance of fabric, which pools
around the foot of curtains where they meet the floor. It’s a
luxurious touch that works a treat in keeping draughts at bay
in such a historic building. Working fires in the downstairs
rooms also work on both a practical and aesthetic level.
It’s a far cry from the tired and dated building that
Francesca first visited: “The last major redecoration was
carried out in the 1950s, with later updates in the 1980s,”
says Francesca and it’s safe to assume that, decoratively
speaking, there was not a lot to go on. Fortunately, much
of the property’s original architectural details remain,
including arrow-slit windows, intricately carved stone
corbels, and a rare decorative laver basin just inside the
front door. As blank canvases go, it’s pretty special.
The magic of Battel Hall hits you as soon as you walk into
its magnificent light-filled hallway. Abundant flowers top
81 surrey-homes.co.uk