Ben Pentreath Transforms Crumbling 200-Year-Old Dorset Parsonage

To architectural designer and decorator Ben Pentreath, imperfection is everything. Even new homes, he says, should be allowed to appear a bit tousled by time. This is no small thing, coming from a man whose clientele list includes King Charles of England.

Seen throughout his work at the London-based Ben Pentreath Ltd studios is the classical design and decoration informing the Englishman’s master planning of commercial projects—and that includes work on Poundbury, a settlement that weaves traditional architecture and the New Urbanist philosophy, and which was the brainchild of the current King of England.

He is also an interior designer and cofounder of the online home goods shop Pentreath & Hall. His latest book, An English Vision, debuted in September. It’s a thick, glossy volume that explores more than two decades of Pentreath’s work and style, including his work on his own home in Dorset, England, which was built in the 1820s.

While he realizes that architecture embraces originality, Pentreath has spent most of his career learning from old buildings and their place in time. “Everything I do, to a great extent, is trying to learn from old places.”

No wonder that he fell for the ramshackle, abandoned, 200-year-old stone parsonage, located in an agricultural estate village called Bridehead Estate, in West Dorset, England. In the English tradition, the estate is owned by one family who lease out many of the properties, including 35 houses.

The parsonage tugged at Pentreath’s heart because of his personal history; his good friend had lived there as a child, and Pentreath spent many younger days running through the small home and gardens. “It was an incredibly laughter-filled house,” he says. But it was also the home’s authenticity and timelessness that drew him. “The tiniest details captured me—a piece of joinery, a door with a beautiful bit of architecture around it. It’s not just about grandeur,” he says.

At the moment, Pentreath divides his time among his London studio (where he has a staff of 40), a cottage in Scotland, and the Dorset home. His husband, Charlie McCormick, and he have considered the parsonage as their place to rest and recharge. “It’s almost like being in a country cottage,” he says.

When Pentreath saw the Dorset home, as an adult, it had suffered. “The house had been let go,” he says. Through walls covered in black mold, windows hanging off hinges, and ruined plumbing, Pentreath saw a lovely fireplace, a beautiful cast-iron tub—and gardens, though run amok, that were brimming with English flowers.

The parsonage is simple: “three up and three down,” he says in English parlance of the layout. Guests enter through a hall and find kitchen, dining room, and bath on the left.

On the right is the sitting room, where the couple spend much of their time. Today it is freshened in a comforting shade of soft pink. Pentreath removed the “horrible timber surround” on the fireplace and installed a white marble surround by Jamb. The half-acre garden, McCormick’s purview, is alive with flowers, hedges, a vegetable garden, and an amazing array of roses. Three bedrooms and a bath, into which Pentreath tucked a shower, are upstairs. Pentreath’s touch was very light. “I didn’t want it to look as if there had been an interior designer at work,” he says. “I wanted it to feel as if nothing had been touched when we were finished.”

Certain updates were essential. New plumbing and wiring were a must, and some bath fixtures had to be replaced. The main bathroom is outfitted with a traditional cast-iron tub by Barber Wilsons & Co. “I wanted the changes to be interventions, nothing shiny and new. The whole spirit is very gentle, simple, and humble.”

Bridehead Estate is on the market today. Pentreath says that Scotland is beckoning him and McCormick as their source of rejuvenation. When they leave Dorset, it will be with heavy hearts. “We love the village,” Pentreath says. “Inspiration is everywhere.”

Ben Pentreath is renowned as a designer of new-traditional buildings and country houses. This just-published book, the first to present his work in its entirety, comes on the 20th anniversary of the author’s London-based firm.

Pentreath both wrote the text and took the photographs. Projects range from colorful and romantic cottages to buildings of sumptuous splendor, as well as town-scale plans. All exhibit the respected designer’s sense of scale, proportion, craft, detail, and appropriateness. Thirty case studies, large and small, are documented.

Designs show his understanding of materials, texture, classical and vernacular detail, color, richness, and simplicity by turn. While being steeped in classicism, Pentreath’s work is celebrated by multiple generations, around the world. His approach is classical, often traditional . . . and yet displays a fresh, welcome playfulness.

AN ENGLISH VISION Traditional Architecture & Decoration for Today By Ben Pentreath. 352 pages. Rizzoli International, Sept. 2024.