“Proper love at first sight”, recalls Emily Swift, remembering her earliest memory of her Georgian home in Somerset. But her words also describe our feelings. When we went to visit her and her husband, Tim, this summer, we too fell not just for the house, but for their extensive refurbishment, which has seen them sensitively restore the 19th-century dwelling into a modern-feeling family home. Watch our latest film with the couple here.

When they sold their place in Highbury via The Modern House in 2018, Tim, founder of creative agency ManvsMachine, and Emily, a creative producer, went westwards to Somerset with their two sons, Buster and Finch, now aged 13 and 10. Swapping the charms of a red-brick late Victorian terrace for the gentle grandeur of early 19th-century neoclassicism, the pair, as Emily put it, found “their perfect home”. With its formal lawns and classical façade, the house is, from the outside, every bit the picture of Georgian perfection.

Inside, however, things start to feel a bit more modern. Tim and Emily undertook a considerable restoration and refurbishment project to improve the spatial flow downstairs, creating a large open-plan living space where, with views in two directions, a large table is now the centre of family life. Meanwhile, the couple set aside their minimal sensibilities – “in a home like this it doesn’t quite work,” says Tim – and instead followed their noses, mixing sources of inspiration to create something, we think, is better for its stylistic promiscuity. As Emily puts it, “it doesn’t matter if it all doesn’t really go.” 

The work they’ve done is reminder of the value of going with what you love – exactly what Tim and Emily did when they first saw the house. You can find the film here. And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss a new one. Happy watching.