Homeowners Ashton Taylor-Smith and Mark Mountjoy chat to KBB journo Amelia Thorpe about the design of the beautifully bold kitchen-dining room in their historic property.

With a background in theatre set and costume design, Ashton Taylor-Smith understands the value of drama. And so, when it came to creating a new kitchen in his home in Kent, there was no question that he might opt for a run-of-the-mill look. “I wanted a fabulous design to suit the scale and magnificence of the room,” he says.

The history of the home

The story starts when Ashton and his partner, Mark Mountjoy, a project manager, decided to downsize from a larger home. They spotted an elegant duplex apartment, which forms the principal portion of a Grade I listed Palladian country house, designed by the great architect Robert Adam.

“I’m obsessed with architecture. So, I instantly fell in love with the beautifully proportioned rooms and pure classical details,” says Ashton, who now works as a designer across a variety of interior and period projects, including consultancy for the National Trust.

The house was built in 1784 for John Turton, physician to George III and Queen Charlotte, who commissioned Robert Adam as the most fashionable architect of the day.

“Despite the fact that he famously declared the King mad, Turton continued to enjoy a good relationship with him,” says Ashton. “So much so, that Queen Charlotte presented Turton with two paintings, a gift from the Emperor of China, when the house was completed and they still hang in the entrance hall here today.”

And there’s more to add to the rich history of the home. Napoleon III lived here for 18 months after fleeing France in the 1840s. More recently, the property has been used as a training centre and offices. And, ultimately, it was converted into private apartments in the 1990s.

Rethinking the layout

“The conversion was very sensitively done, but the kitchen in our apartment was small and without much natural light,” explains Ashton. “Because we live in our kitchen most of the time and enjoy entertaining and cooking, we felt it would make much more sense to re-think the layout – making the south-facing summer drawing room, with its beautiful arched windows and glorious views of the garden, into our kitchen-dining room.”

As he began to develop his ideas for the room, Ashton called upon John Stephens, managing director of bespoke kitchen maker Rencraft, to create the new design, after working with the company on several previous projects.

“I knew we needed to scale up to match the proportions of the room, and there are few companies able to make genuinely bespoke cabinetry. But Rencraft is one of them,” says Ashton. “John responds brilliantly to a challenge and we collaborate very well together.”

The design of the dark kitchen

With a ceiling some 4.5m tall and soaring arched windows, it was essential that the cabinetry was equally grand. The focal point is a handsome double-doored larder cupboard with super-size broken pediment.

“This piece needed to command the room and look as if it had always been there,” he explains. “Rencraft made several maquettes (small models) to make sure the pediment was absolutely right. We knew that if it wasn’t perfect, it would forever jar.”

The larder steps forward to create a traditional breakfront, with a fridge and freezer housed in cupboards on each side. Two sink areas flank the tall section, one tucked into an original alcove, complete with glass shelves for attractive displays.

In front of the tall cupboard, a large island creates the main workstation in the dark kitchen. It provides plenty of preparation space and integrated appliances, including a hob with built-in extractor system.

The details

“Given the listed status of the house, we couldn’t add additional lights in the ceiling. So – inspired by the pretty onyx bar in The Ivy, my favourite restaurant – we created this raised pediment on the island,” explains Ashton. “It provides practical light for cooking, creates a soft glow in the evening, and has the extra benefit of hiding the sight of the cooking mess on the worktop from guests at the dining table.”

In keeping with the period of the house, Ashton selected a Chinoiserie panoramic wallpaper with flowing branches, birds and delicate flowers as the starting point for the decoration, echoing its soft hues in a Georgian-inspired plaster pink paint for the ceiling.

“To create a dramatic contrast, the cabinetry is painted in a very dark, almost charcoal, green,” says Ashton. “In the same spirit of contrast, I like mixing antique and modern pieces, because that’s the way to add zing.”

And now that the project is complete? “It is a room that brings us great joy,” he says

As originally told to: Amelia Thorpe | Photography: Mark Hardy Creative

This house tour was featured in the October 2024 issue of Kitchens Bedrooms & Bathrooms magazine.

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