Set on the bank of the River Stour, Olantigh, a Georgian mansion whose story began in 1508 with Sir Thomas Kemp. The house was devastated by fire in 1903, during which the then owner escaped by climbing an ivy covered wall. Two-thirds of the original building was destroyed, and it was later rebuilt in 1910. Hollaway Studio was commissioned to bring Olantigh into the modern day, to rediscover the heart of the home. Many manor houses are no longer suited to contemporary living, their kitchens, once hidden away for servants, no longer serve the rhythms of contemporary family life.
The challenge was to transform a formal manor house into a home that feels connected, creating spaces where families can make memories together. Through careful conversation with the clients, Hollaway Studio reimagined the home, which served an earlier generation but no longer supported the needs of modern living.
The team sought to locate the true heart of the home which was to create an open plan kitchen family living space with kitchen, dining area and lounge where the family could come together. They found it in the reception hall at the centre of the property. The next question was how to connect this new heart to the walled garden, framed by the remains of the structure that once enclosed the original, fire-damaged structure.
The solution was to introduce a set of monumental glass doors to match the grandeur of the Corinthian columns in the reception space. Standing 5.9 metres tall, each door leaf is 2.7 metres wide, they are among the tallest residential glazed doors in the world. Despite their size, each pivoting door can be moved effortlessly with a single finger. The result is a serene harmony between house and garden, glass doors that act as windows to the soul of the home.
A modest 1.6-metre extension created a new family dining area. The clients asked Hollaway to design a dining table worthy of the space, and the studio responded with a bespoke oval design which perfectly fits the space. When the clients placed their old chairs around it, Hollaway offered to design new seating to complement the room’s elegance, and so the ‘Olantigh’ Chair was born. Hollaway’s first bespoke chair design, it features gracefully curving arms that appear to defy gravity, yet remain understated enough not to compete with the architecture around them.
The kitchen opens onto an external dining area, where another Hollaway-designed table sits beside the newly installed pool. This table, crafted from concrete, incorporates inset planters that double as wine coolers. Its circular legs mirror the width of the internal columns, creating a dialogue between the old and the new.
The former art gallery walls now enclose the walled garden, compressing and framing the landscape to create an intimate social heart for the home. The design brings the family together at the centre of the house while also forming a unified setting for entertaining. In doing so, it reconciles contemporary living with the building’s heritage and listed status, bringing old and new into quiet dialogue.
