Mount Offham in Kent as featured in The English Home magazine

Writing, styling and art directing by Clair Wayman

Once owned by 7th Baron Plunkett, long-standing equerry to her Majesty the Queen, Mount Offham has a colourful past. During Patrick Plunkett’s time, glamorous parties were held here with The Queen and Princess Margaret being regular guests at weekend sojourns in the 1960’s.

 The impressive early-Victorian country house, nestled deep in the Kent countryside, is now owned by Annabelle and Mike Thompson who have lovingly restored it. Annabelle works as a busy cooperate lawyer and has relished the opportunity to explore her creative side, decorating the rooms in a quintessentially English style with a modern twist. The couple are both passionate about preserving the house for future generations and enlisted the help of local tradesmen to restore the period features, including the exquisite mouldings. This is a story about a once faded country house that has not only been brought back to its former glory, but also cleverly re-modelled to suit the couple’s modern lifestyle.

As I styled and art directed this shoot, I had the opportunity to get to know Annabelle and Mike, which really helped when I came to write the feature. I remember arriving quite late, the evening before the shoot, and Mike came out to greet me enthusiastically. We all went out to dinner in a beautiful little restaurant in their local village and I slept in a bedroom that is rumoured to have been where Princess Margaret slept. The next morning, Annabelle and I went for a brisk, early morning walk around the grounds with her dogs, before the shoot day commenced with photographer, Nick Yardsley.