Historic Gem

Reportage 13595328 | © living4media / Narratives / Sanderson, Robert | 24 images

Steeped in history, the run down Georgian fronted terrace house in the West Country proved the perfect home for Tom and Camilla Harrington. Back in the 14th century, the site of Tom and Camilla Harrington’s home was no more than a wine store with a chequered history. ‘The round barrel shaped openings are still visible, ’ Tom points out round dents in the front façade. ‘Apparently wine merchants would roll barrels through these openings for storage and eventual resale. The basement is now our media room by the way.’ Centuries later, from Tudor times on, the local village forger who provided horse shoes for passing travellers, set up his trade on the same site. His original chimney is now part of the cooking recess in the kitchen. Two hundred years later, Georgian gentry were responsible for putting on the smarter façade and the new front room, now used as the main sitting room. The house’s idyllic village position combined with Tom’s passion for history compelled him and Camilla to buy what he describes as this ‘veritable tardis.’