Dreamy English Country Home by Amanda Brooks
What began as a yearlong retreat on a farm in the Cotswolds turned into a whole new life for fashion insider Amanda Brooks and her family.
Writer Amanda Brooks and her husband, painter Christopher Brooks, left New York City to take up residence at his family’s Oxfordshire, England, farm in 2012 with their children, Coco and Zach. The main house, a former cart shed with attached cottage, was built in the 1820s; the small outbuilding at right was recently converted into Amanda’s office.
In a sitting room, the chair is covered in a Rosa Bernal Collection printed linen from Claremont. The pillow is of vintage African fabric, and the tiger stool and the diorama above the mantel are both antiques. The vintage Beni Ourain rug is from Liberty.
The living room’s reclaimed-wood sofa table and shelving echo the timeworn ceiling beams. Cheerful red armchairs and antique herbarium specimens flank the fireplace. A glamorous Louis XV gilt-wood mirror (at left) gleams against walls of unpainted plaster.
Counters of reclaimed mahogany top pine cabinetry in the kitchen. The range is by Lacanche, and the brass sink fittings are by Barber Wilsons & Co.
Louis XV mirror.
The Boot Room features vintage military prints from a Paris flea market alongside coats, hats, and boots for every kind of weather.
The limestone flooring came from a quarry on the farm.
The master bedroom wallpaper is 1980s Laura Ashley, and the velvet curtains came from Christopher’s grandparents’ house. The bed is dressed in linens from Ilinka Collection.
Coco’s room features a rosy vintage pattern.
Tassels enliven an iron canopy frame in a bedroom.
Vintage wallpaper and family pictures adorn the downstairs “loo.”
Amanda and Coco riding Shalom and Tottie.
A meandering country lane crosses the property.
Fresh-cut roses from the garden.
The garden shed.
A rose-filled garden bed.
Amanda in the garden.
