A stable environment

It’s hard to believe that this quiet corner was once a bustling business on the main drag.

“The house is part of what was once a coach house with a central arch for horses. It’s on a windy country road, but in the 1600s this was the main road to York,” says Lesley Styrin, who has made a home in Lower Wharfedale with husband Rick and their two young daughters. “And what’s now the playroom was a later extension – it was the local shop 30 years ago.”

The family moved in eight years ago, buying the place after spending a few months living next door in a rental property. “This house was also being rented, and we waited until the owners were ready to sell and then approached them,” says Lesley.

They already knew they wanted to live here – they had fallen in love with the spectacular views across the Wharfe Valley, with the River Wharfe running past the bottom of the garden. The house was perfectly located between Harrogate (schools) and Leeds, where Rick runs the family business, Styrin Motors. More than anything though, it was the quiet of the place that really grabbed them. “Peace!,” exclaims Rick, with his trademark grin.

It was only this year, however, that Rick and Lesley went ahead and made the changes to the house that they had always wanted to.

“The kitchen was dark and small, which I really didn’t like,” says Lesley, “plus you had to go through the sitting room to get to the stairs. We knew we had to open the house up and bring the light and the wonderful views in.”

Pre children, Lesley worked in the fashion industry, and consequently has a firm idea of what she likes. She has applied this to both the hard design and soft furnishings, transforming the space into a practical, contemporary home that also fully acknowledges the house’s fascinating history. Beautiful stone fireplaces and exposed beams give a flavour of the past while contemporary materials and furnishings bring the house bang up to date.

Because she knew exactly what she wanted, (she’d had eight years to think about it) Lesley applied herself to the renovation of the house, working closely with Thomas Adams Joinery and Construction to source materials and fine tune design elements.

“I wanted to keep the house itself as traditional as possible, because that’s what I like, but I also like to put modern and old together,” says Lesley, adding, “I like to mix things up: I like muted shades, but I also like to have flashes of bold. I like to keep things plain, but I also like to pick out signature pieces such as the statement lampshades in the sitting room and dining room.”

Once the wall between the dining room and kitchen was down, Lesley had practical, light limestone tiles put down throughout the space and into the hallway, creating continuity and bringing brightness from the south side to the north-facing side of the house.

In the kitchen, Lesley and Rick have installed beautiful oak cupboards, an American-style fridge and an unusual and quite bold work surface of purple boreal granite that gives lots of thrown out colour. It’s not an enormous kitchen, and yet they’ve been quite adventurous in contrasting the traditional oak with black surfaces and accessories. And by opening up the kitchen to the dining room, the space is maximised and feels abundant.

Lesley said: “I chose to have a bespoke kitchen so I could give traditional units a contemporary edge, the doors have the smooth clean lines of a modern kitchen but I’ve added old fashioned ‘pharmacy’ style handles and the oak supporting beam running through to the dining area to give it a rustic feel.”

Furnishing is minimal throughout, giving the house a spacious, restful and luxurious atmosphere. In the sitting room, Lesley has worked with a palette of soft mushrooms and creams, contrasting textures with beautifully soft rugs and throws and crisp linen curtains.

Brushed silver lampshades and photo frames bring elegance to the sitting room, and Lesley has added her signature floral theme with canvases on the walls and corresponding floral cushions. An old wooden farm pitchfork leans in the corner, lending a rural yet at the same time sculptural feel while acting as a reminder of the building’s history. “I think you can be really random about how you put things together,” says Lesley.

Linen features again in the dining area, where Lesley has used some of the curtain fabric to make a table runner, and the chair covers, too are linen. Ever keen to find a bargain, Lesley says: “Our old chairs were too heavy looking, so I found these chair covers on the internet – at £90 they were much cheaper than buying a new set.”

The new layout offers an uninterrupted flow from the kitchen through the dining room and into the garden, and the Styrins have brought the outside in by installing wall-to-wall folding French doors.

A new staircase leads to the first floor, which, with its beams and gabled ceilings shows the building’s 17th century origins. The Styrins have worked round these though, and for example, a beam running through their en suite bathroom serves as the shower entrance.

“We love it here,” says Lesley, “We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Where Lesley Styrin shopped:

Thomas Adams Joinery & Construction, Northallerton – building and joinery work, project management – 01609 770000.

Prices Paving, Snape, Bedale – limestone, marble, travertine, slate – www.pricespaving.co.uk

F Jones Marble and Granite, Cleveland – new £3m factory in Middlesbrough stocking hundreds of types of granite - 01642 241195, www.fjonesltd.com

Janet For Soft Furnishings – Harrogate based, makes up cushions, blinds, 
curtains, table runners and chair 
covers – 01423 541515.

Speights Lighting, 
Huddersfield – lighting store on 
two floors – www.speightslighting.
co.uk

Floor Design, Wetherby – for carpets – www.floordesign.co.uk