Standing outside Marwell House, near Winchester, with her husband, Patrick, and their sons, Freddie, 12, and Rufus, eight, Gilly Kensley could see that the house offered a rare opportunity. It had been the home of Viscountess Kelburn, who had inherited it from her father, Sir Archibald Lyle, and, while it had stood empty for some time, under the surface feel of neglect lay a gem waiting to be rediscovered.

“Within minutes of walking through the door, we all looked at each other,” Gilly says, “and my sons both said, 'You've got to buy this house. It's lovely.' Considering that our previous house had a pool, which they loved, it was quite an intuitive remark on the part of the two boys, who could see what a wonderful move it would be.”

The family then set about restoring the house with its elegant proportions and generous flow of light. The previous owner had divided it into separate quarters for family and staff, the latter containing a galley kitchen and small rooms. “That's not how anyone lives these days,” says Gilly, “so we took down some walls to open up the rabbit warren.” Losing a bedroom and bathroom still left seven bedrooms and five bathrooms – a price Gilly was happy to pay to gain a large kitchen with ample seating space, as well as a living room, dining room, library and study areas.

Concerned that larger spaces might compromise the feeling of intimacy in the house, Gilly gave serious thought to decoration, using subtly different paint colours for each room, including Farrow & Ball's Cornforth White for the kitchen and Clunch for the main bedroom, to give each its own character yet maintain a neutral flow throughout the house.

Gilly's love of art and furnishings informed this choice, with paintings and sculpture often providing the backbone for a room's design. “We probably bought half a dozen pieces,” Gilly says, “never losing sight of how the sun goes round the house. It floods in at the back and so we chose the big silver leaf disc for the kitchen wall, where it sits directly in the sunlight. I love finding the right piece for the right place. It brings a depth to the house.”

The way light moves through the house was obviously a major consideration of the original builders too, and changes to the upper floor were made to reintroduce the sun-filled landings, which had been carved up to yield extra bathrooms. Today, the main bedroom is Gilly's favourite place in the house, with its double-aspect views over the extensive grounds. “In the morning, you can lie on the bed with a cup of coffee and look out to the garden. There is so much light that you almost have to wear sunglasses.”

The gardens of Marwell House reveal almost as much of the history of the house as the rooms themselves. Designed around 70 years ago by the English architect and garden designer Cecil Pinsent (1884-1963) whose major work was in Tuscany, the house is surrounded by formal gardens, giving way to paddock and parkland. But best of all, says Gilly, is the kitchen garden behind the old coach house. “This is the first time I've tried creating a vegetable plot. I've stuck a load of things in, and the soil is so marvellous that anything grows. The same is true of the walled fruit garden. In its heyday, this was a seriously productive house.”

Since moving into the house in October 2006, the family has been enjoying its space, while Gilly and Patrick look for their next property to restore. “We use every room,” Gilly emphasises, “and with two young boys we wouldn't want to keep it as a show home. After a good weekend, it feels really lived in, and I think that adds to its character.” But the family knows it has been a privilege to take on a building like this, and is proud to have restored it to be a living, breathing home before handing it on to someone else. “It was here all along. All it needed was for someone to dig deep to find it.”

WORDS ROS ANDERSON
PHOTOGRAPHS MEL YATES
JUNE 2007