The poetry of the English countryside between barns and spas

The refined restoration of a rural hamlet by Richard Parr Associates adds to the process of promoting one of Somerset's most evocative hospitality venues.

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021. Photo Rich Stapleton Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021. Photo Rich Stapleton

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 site plan

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Cheese barn, ground floor

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Cheese barn, first floor plan

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Cheese barn, roof plan

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Cheese barn, North and East elevations

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Cheese barn, South and West elevations

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Cheese barn,. sections

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Granary, ground floor plan, first floor plan and roof plan

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Granary, North elevations

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Granary, South elevation

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Granary, sections

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Shatwell house, ground floor plan

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Shatwell house, South elevation

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Shatwell house, East elevation

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Shatwell house, West elevations

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Shatwell house, North elevation

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Shatwell house, sezione

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Shatwell house, sections

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 sketch of the stables

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Threshing barn sketch

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 sketch of the Threshing barn

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Cider press and stalls sketch

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Garner barn sketch

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021 Pool barn sketch

View Article details

Chiara Testoni
22 November 2021
Somerset, UK
Richard Parr Associates
2,000 smq
hospitality
2021

The latest in a series of restoration and development projects on an 800-acre site, the 2,000 square metre farm hamlet comprising nine historic buildings, which looks like something out of a Jane Austen book, is now an enchanting place of hospitality with 17 suites, a restaurant, an indoor swimming pool and spa, a bar, a games room and a shelter for bicycles and electric vehicles. The design approach of the architects - Richard Parr Associates (RPA) in collaboration with owner and designer Karen Roos - was characterised by a desire to preserve the original, romantic spirit of the farm buildings through a straightforward and essential language that reconciled the use of traditional materials and technologies with a contemporary, elegant and clearly recognisable taste. The buildings - an 18th-century farmhouse, a threshing barn, a cheese barn, a stable, a granary and a series of outbuildings - have been sensitively and delicately reinterpreted through the use of a palette of materials common to the whole project - local stone, oak wood, glass, marble, plaster, brass - that gives the spaces warmth, intimacy and authenticity.

The buildings for communal activities are located in the heart of the lot: Garner Bar, with stone walls, a sloping roof and unfinished wooden floors, houses a bar, a library and a games room; Pool Barn contains the swimming pool, covered by a traditional wooden ceiling supported by brick columns; Threshing Barn, with an oak truss roof, houses the reception, a games room and a restaurant seating 36.

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021: Pool Barn. Photo Rich Stapleton

The private living areas are distributed throughout the other restored buildings (Shatwell House, the old barn, the cheese barn, the stable), where the historic settings are complemented by textiles, colours and furnishings in a contemporary key, inserted with measure and delicacy into the context.

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021. Photo Rich Stapleton

At the top of the plot, The Shelter, a horseshoe-shaped shelter with a Douglas fir and oak structure, houses bicycles and electric vehicles for guests wishing to explore the fascinating surrounding English countryside.

Farmyard at The Newt in Somerset
Richard Parr Associates
Karen Roos
Mann Williams
Stonewood
Martin Thomas Associates
RPA in collaboration with The Newt in Somerset
Currie & Brown
Bruton, Somerset, Regno Unito
2021

Richard Parr Associates, Farmyard at The Newt, Somerset, UK 2021. Photo Rich Stapleton