Barlborough Old Hall, Barlborough, Derbyshire, £700k

Barlborough Old Hall is an H shaped Manor House, built in 1618, listed grade ii* and is attributed to Robert Smythson (Hardwick Hall, Woolaton Hall).  It was restored in the mid 1980s, but seems to have had a more recent ‘makeover’ in terms of bathrooms etc. You can read the historic, listing details of the property below.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1335416

Barlborough Old Hall has great dignity and strength but I can’t help wishing the planting around the property were a little softer.  There has been a trend for leaving houses almost gardenless over the last few decades, which I think started with barn conversions where a garden would not have existed, so was not planted during the transformation from barn to house.  But this fashion spread to other rural properties, as the stark look combined with the fashion for minimalism. Having said that, Barlborough Old Hall does not have very much land, so any planting would have to be carefully considered.



https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70675384.html


Internally the house is full of interesting historic features and the rooms are best where they are largely left alone, in terms of the lime plaster.  One of the bedrooms is done in a beautiful pinky terracotta shade, but there isn’t much use of colour otherwise. Like the outside the rooms are left very ‘uncluttered’ indeed which makes them seem rather cold and austere. Below are some of the warmer and more fully furnished ones. 



I think more paintings, tapestries and mirrors are required.   It is difficult to choose mirrors for Elizabethan and Jacobean properties, because Georgian and Regency gilt doesn’t look right.  However, the ebonised, reeded framed, 17th century mirrors with original, dark  mercury glass fit well although they are very expensive. 




















If you are currently restoring a period property and are in search of historic lime based paints and emulsions, can I recommend Aglaia.  Their paints have been made to the same historic recipes since the 1850s, they aren’t Johnny come latelys, though sadly they are German.  They do a range of modern colours made to the same formulas as their historic range, but the recipes mean that even new colours have the right, chalky, earthy feel to them.  They don’t have ridiculous names. 

https://www.womersleys.co.uk/techguides/aglaia%20brochure.pdf

As with so many of these historic houses they need making in to homes.  The fun of owning Barlborough Old Hall would be in humanising it, domesticating it, adding colour, warmth, rugs, and a collection of period oak and walnut furniture and some old fashioned roses in the garden.




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