Trethill House is a wildly romantic, yet characteristically sturdy early Victorian house designed by George Wightwick, a Plymouth architect who studied in Sir John Soane’s office. It comprises a generous Drawing Room and Dining Room, two modest sitting rooms and a string of rooms for everyday comfortable living. Amazingly, upon commencement of restoration work, we found the designs for the house in the RIBA Library; efficiently rendered on only five sheets, two of these for the stables and steadings. The architect’s intentions for the exteriors, the size and layout of the rooms and the ornamental trim had all been executed and almost nothing had been lost since, nor did it need to be.

My uncle Jonathan sourced one marble chimneypiece (from nearby Lanhydrock) but otherwise concentrated on what to him are the basics for comfort, a functional heating system and well stocked grounds. The house has a lovely aspect, sheltered by one great ridge from the sea, but within walking distance of its sandy beaches. With gently sloping lawns and somewhat neglected woods that Jonathan restocked with generous plantings of species magnolia, rhododendron and spring bulbs, it is now a scene straight out of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

Jonathan collects pictures, furniture and artefacts rather as he collects friends or species magnolia – because he likes them. For me this is the most enduring and successful instinct for collecting. These pieces became the backdrop to his varied life, creating homes in London, Malta, Morocco, Herefordshire, Sutherland, Harris and latterly Cornwall.

It is a further move within Cornwall that occasions this sale as it is time to downsize and rationalise. I have helped him move twice but before me he had worked with the wonderful (and much missed) Melissa Wyndham to create his ‘signature look’ – what you might call distinguished comfort or subdued elegance.

Although coming from Trematon Castle, the 19th century chandeliers suited their new ceiling heights, walnut bookcases, found neatly fitting alcoves and the pictures could adopt the same tiers. In short, the only alteration needed was to extend the height of the Dining Room curtains that formerly dressed the windows of a lower ceilinged kitchen, by adding an apron of velvet – an old country house trick developed over the years to address the effects of unwanted canine relief without binning the whole curtain, one suspects.

Whether in London or the country the scale of the furniture and the discerning eye that combines different centuries and continents ensures that the resulting rooms exude comfort and charm. 

That pieces from so many eras of Jonathan’s life cohabit so naturally is because they have been collected with that underlying sense that ‘we English’ have that our homes, our personalities and our lifestyles are indivisible. Jonathan’s rooms are hospitable, scented and not a little dishevelled, but always a delight to the eye.

The family have kept a few much loved pieces but hope that what does not now fit in the new house will find happy homes and give new owners as much pleasure as they have given him.

Collection Highlights

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Auction Details

Wednesday 16 October, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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