Fashion designer Stephanie Woolley and her husband Chris have been in love with the New Forest for many years, spending weekends and holidays here in each of the National Park’s beautiful and very different seasons. Their dream was to buy a little cottage somewhere quiet and secluded to escape their frantically busy lives, and offer their two children a chance to experience an alternative lifestyle surrounded by nature and wildlife. After tirelessly looking and thinking they would never find anywhere affordable, they stumbled across a 200-year-old cob cottage in the tiny village of East Boldre, near Beaulieu.
When they first looked around what would become their ‘dream bolt hole’, it looked much more like a nightmare. It was barely habitable, but the couple could see its underlying beauty and potential. They put in an offer and soon after took charge of a ramshackle historic cottage. After a little research, they found that the cottage was most probably built for workers of the Beaulieu Estate, and the hotchpotch of rooms came about as the cottage was extended to incorporate the adjacent barn, which is now the living room.
Chris and Steph began refurbishing, but soon realised that the cottage actually needed a complete renovation. Specialists were contracted for structural repairs, a new thatched roof, and utilities to get the house to ‘shell’ stage. From then on, the massive renovation was down to the couple who installed underfloor heating, stripped back the walls, woodwork and removed suspended ceilings to reveal the cottage’s original beams and wonderful architecture. It was a project of pure devotion, spending every weekend and holiday covered in dust to bring the cottage back to life.
With a bountiful supply of windows and natural daylight, Steph, with her eye for interior design, felt the cottage was the perfect canvas for a Scandi/’Hygge’ feel. They lime washed the cob and stone walls and timber boards to double the sense of light and connect each room with simple continuity. They were keen to honour the cottage’s humble origins and pay homage through décor and design to its simplistic beauty and location surrounded by open forest. Steph curated the Scandi look with consistency in all the rooms by layering natural elements. Utilising the cottage’s reclaimed and stripped bare wood and brick, she paired ceramics and textiles such as linen blend cottons, wool in various textures and sheepskin to add interest and softness. She kept to a typical Nordic colour palette of chalky hues on the scale of light to dark which are both calming and soothing. They preserved original layers of hand painted but elegantly eroded wallpaper discovered in the kitchen to retain the history of the decor over the years.
The cottage is furnished with a smorgasbord of local craftsmanship, upcycling of furniture such as the lounge rocking chair and dining table, and high street and online finds, including the woven hanging chair from Amazon which adds a fun focal point to the main bedroom. Bonding the theme of Scandi design, nature and the New Forest, Steph commissioned accomplished artist Laura McKendry for a series of paintings of New Forest birds which take pride of place in the main bedroom and throughout the rest of the cottage. The large botanical print in the lounge is from Scandinavian designer brands shop Folk Interiors. The outsize rope lights, chosen as a nod to the cottage’s proximity to the nearby Bucklers Hard shipbuilding village, came from Creative Cables. Vintage trunks and other curiosities were locally sourced from Elephant Antiques & Lymington Market.
Keen to support local businesses, Steph and Chris provide guests with a hamper containing local produce such as New Forest shortbread & Beaulieu chocolate studio. They are fans of Willow Lifestyle in Lymington, chose the candles and table linens from Bellalocus in Beaulieu, and floral elements from Belle and Blossom, also in Beaulieu. Throughout Argentor Cottage are decorative pieces, vintage finds and well-loved possessions handed down from generations past. Yet, it isn’t cluttered, those that are on display are well-considered, comforting, and relevant to the overall feel of homeliness.
Outside the wrap around garden is bordered with ancient lofty trees, established blooms, prairie planting and areas of wild meadow attracting butterflies and wildlife. French doors lead out to a series of grassy lawns and gravelled areas where stands garden furniture on which to relax and take in the views through the trees and spot deer tiptoeing through the bushes.
The fruits of Steph and Chris’s endeavours is a stunningly beautiful holiday cottage. They have captured what many Scandi styling lacks, which is to combine design aesthetics with the critically important comfort factor and day to day practicality. Argentor Cottage is not your average holiday home. It is a self-catering boutique luxury experience in a national park famed for its vibrant wildlife.
You can rent Argentor Cottage through www.newforestcottages.co.uk.