A Grade II-listed Tudor house in Kent with a mix of old and new

This house feels as though it was built for Christmas celebrations,’ says Julia Brendel of her Grade II-listed home, a Tudor farmhouse with 18th and 20th-century additions.

‘It’s easy to dress and to make look special,’ she says, adding that much of the greenery comes from the garden. With fireplaces in every room and a wealth of architectural details that seem to invite seasonal decorations, the house really does come into its own at this time of year.

Julia, a textile designer, and her husband Gerry, bought their home back in 2011 following a frustrating house hunt, during which their search crept from Surrey to Kent and a dream house fell through. ‘We were really devastated about that,’ she recalls. ‘But then I had such an emotional response to this house – I loved its authenticity.’

She was particularly struck by the staircase, she says. ‘It has lovely wide steps and I remember noticing how nice it was to walk up them when we came to view the house. The Georgians were so good with proportions.’

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The previous owners had opened up the space to allow light into the darker parts of the building, which had given the rooms a bright, airy feel. Julia could see the house would be perfect, not only as a home, but also for her experiments with the fabrics she was designing.

‘I could make curtains and seat covers in the way I envisaged them being used,’ she says, ‘and the rooms were bright enough for me to photograph them in situ.’

With no major renovations to embark on, Julia was able to concentrate on decorating. She opted for a dark palette to provide a dramatic backdrop to the antique and modern furniture they have collected over the years – sofas and tables from previous homes and sentimental pieces from their families.

The grand piano in the sitting room is particularly important to Julia. ‘It came from my mum, who is Polish. She used to have a house with apartments in Poland. When one of her tenants ran out of money, Mum let her stay on. She left this piano in her will as repayment.’

Alongside the dark blues and greys that are almost black, Julia has added a range of warm, neutral shades that complement the mix of period features, from high ceilings and elegant fireplaces in the Georgian part, to the multi-paned windows and low beams of the Tudor rooms. The effect is an impressive and successful contradiction: grand, yet cosy.

‘When you move home, things inevitably end up in different configurations,’ Julia says, ‘and I like to keep that experiment going, to see what fits.’ To that end, she tends to shuffle things around from time to time, refining the balance of old and new. ‘I would say it’s all a work in progress.

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Like fashion, your tastes change.’ Julia is always on the lookout for new additions and one of her go-to places is West Street in Dorking.

‘A whole road of antiques shops, one dealer after another, perfect for browsing,’ she says. Her dream would be to have a huge hotel in which every room was different: ‘I’ve run out of rooms here,’ she smiles. But she’s content with what she’s achieved in the five bedrooms she has.

‘Our homes show who we are, what we love and what we do. And I look around and think, I’ve collected all these things and they all mean something to me.’

Even so, she’s already harbouring plans for her next project: the bathroom attached to the master bedroom. ‘I’ve been looking at copper gutter spouts in the shape of gargoyles at Peter Barrow’s Antiques in Faversham and think they would make great taps. I like the idea of a pair of those with a huge freestanding bath, dark walls and screen – very theatrical!’