HOME FARM

Home Farm

A weekend at John Pawson's Cotswold hideaway

Time spent in any of John Pawson’s works is a rare privilege. The architectural designer’s works nail a tricky duality between minimalism and warmth that lends a fresh and inimitable perspective on living, no more evident than at his own home in the Cotswolds, Home Farm. When we had the chance to spend a bank holiday weekend there in the summer of 2020, we could hardly pass it up.

The house is built from a series of farm buildings, some dating back to the 17th century. While classically very beautiful, the interface they have with the crisp, modern interior is the real masterstroke.

It’s a personal showcase house, of the sort that every designer lives to build at some point. Some areas on the grounds appear to be more design exercise than anything else, a chance for Pawson to express a creative urge without necessarily fulfilling a domestic need.

Things like that don’t typically exist when architects need to consider client demand into the equation, but Home Farm would certainly be lesser without them.

It’s a personal showcase house, of the sort that every designer lives to build at some point.

The silence of the design plays very nicely to the silence of its setting. It’s an escape from the city in more ways than just physical - it’s a space to declutter the mind, where the way sunlight plays with the textures of the house is sometimes compelling enough to capture your full attention.

Pawson’s love of shadows and light in his photography make perfect sense when you spend enough time here. Everywhere you look in this house is another photogenic vantage point, and John is never too far from his camera.