Tour this bohemian Georgian guest house in Devon

tour glebe house devon
Tour this bohemian Georgian guest house in Devon Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick

The loveliest thing about Glebe House, says Olive Guest, is the uninterrupted view across the Coly Valley. Planted in the East Devon hills near Colyton, it's surrounded by nature, including 15 acres of its own land, where Olive and her husband Hugo grow all their own flowers and vegetables, and keep chickens (plus the occasional pig).

And it’s the landscape that has inspired the furnishings of the house, from William Morris fabrics to strawberry-patterned wallpaper.

A grapevine has even been trained inside, where it clambers around the ceiling of the garden room that provides an entrance to the house.

Hugo’s family have owned the Georgian house, originally built as a vicarage, for 40 years, and had run it as a B&B for about 18 of those, before chef Hugo and artist Olive moved back here to take over the business in 2020.

It has always had an eclectic, slightly bohemian feel, full of creative touches and accumulated family treasures.

Hugo and Olive wanted to maintain that informal spirit, while casting a fresh eye over the decorative style. “We wanted a bit less clutter, and to give each room a distinctive character.”

tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick
tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick

Pattern was a key element, especially for Olive, whose own paintings hang on many of the walls, and whose inspirations include Charleston, the Sussex base of the Bloomsbury artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant: “Their liberal use of pattern, the freehand murals everywhere–it’s just so joyful.” Pattern at Glebe House isn’t quite so exuberant, but adds the same sense of vibrant energy.


Fruit Fool

Farrow & Ball
Farrow & Ball

$79.00 at farrow-ball.com


Plate 142 Framed Print

King & McGaw
King & McGaw

£155.00 at kingandmcgaw.com


Italian Bamboo & Rattan Screen

Vinterior
Vinterior

£6840.00 at vinterior.co


Country Living Kirkton Sofa

DFS
DFS

£949.00 at dfs.co.uk


Florence Armchair in Coral Garnet

Love Your Home
Love Your Home

£1310.00 at love-your-home.co.uk


Rattan Wave Pendant Shade, Natural

Matilda Goad
Matilda Goad

£175.00 at matildagoad.com


Plate 142 Framed Print

King & McGaw
King & McGaw

£155.00 at kingandmcgaw.com


TRTC Blue & White Floral Basin

The Remarkable Toilet Company
The Remarkable Toilet Company

£500.00 at beautifultoilets.com


Fruit Fool Emulsion

Farrow & Ball
Farrow & Ball

$79.00 at farrow-ball.com


TRTC Blue & White Floral Basin

The Remarkable Toilet Company
The Remarkable Toilet Company

£500.00 at beautifultoilets.com


Little Wild Tulips Wallpaper

Ottoline
Ottoline

£178.00 at ottoline.co.uk


William Morris At Home Brother Rabbit Cushion

Dunelm
Dunelm

£38.00 at dunelm.com

Apart from making a couple of bathrooms bigger, Olive and Hugo made very few structural changes and enlisted the help of interior designers Studio Alexandra. Whenever possible, they reused furnishings that already had a place in the house, to retain its connection with the past.

The kitchen was redesigned around the original Aga (now converted to electricity). They kept the Greek tiles behind it (bought by Hugo’s parents in the 1970s) and the terracotta floor to maintain the homely farmhouse feel.

The layout was updated to make it practical enough to cater for guests, with tall stools from OKA added at a breakfast bar and contemporary black metal lights hung overhead. The walls were refreshed in Barbouche by Farrow & Ball.

tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick

In the sitting room, the old Glebe House grandfather clock and a couple of blue velvet chairs “that have been here for years” are set against the rich pink of Farrow & Ball’s Fruit Fool and paired with a sunshine-yellow sofa found on Facebook Marketplace. Bright patterned rugs and wallhangings, a boldly upholstered armchair from a Somerset antiques shop and accessories in turquoise and emerald all contribute to the Bloomsbury feel.

tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick

Bedrooms have each been given a fresh identity: one papered in Ottoline de Vries’s lively Tulip design, another with a joyful yellow ceiling reflecting the morning sun, a third inspired by the copper beech tree outside its window, with soft green walls and a blind in a William Morris print of scrolling acanthus and honeysuckle.

tour glebe house devon

The pattern continues into the bathrooms: one papered in a wild strawberry design by Honor Addington, a local artist inspired by Devon hedgerows; another is hung with framed Redouté prints of Olive's favourite flowers–tulips, sweet peas, anemones, hydrangeas. And several of the bathrooms have flower-patterned washbasins–some vintage, others modern replicas.

tour glebe house devon
Botanical prints of favourite flowers line a bathroom painted in Plaster III from Paint & Paper Library. Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick

Each room is distinctively different, yet each contributes to the unifying theme of the outdoor world. “It’s so inspiring to be entrenched in nature, as we are here,” Olive says, “and we wanted the house to celebrate that.”

Tour the rest of the home

tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick
tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick
tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick
tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick
tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick
tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick
tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick
tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick
tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick
tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick
tour glebe house devon
Photography Brent Darby, Production Ben Kendrick

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