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John Fowler

The Invention of the Country-House Style

Review of John Fowler: The Invention of the Country-House Style from the
Journal of Architectural Conservation

Never a huge fan of John Fowler, but aware of his status and reputation, my own first hand introduction to his work followed my hard-of-hearing mother-in-law navigating a family trip destined for Shugborough to Sudbury instead. A happy accident and one I certainly never regretted.

At first my feelings towards this fascinating and well-written book were similarly a little confused. Was this really a book about the 'Invention of the English Country-House style', and John Fowler's role in it, or was it a eulogy on this undeniably remarkable man? In fact, it altogether proved more interesting than either of these, although it must be said it does encompass a bit of both too.

The book is a collection of papers that were presented at a conference organized by Helen Hughes in her role as Events Organizer for the Traditional Paint Forum at Kelmarsh Hall in November 1999. The papers are by a rich mix of contributors from the upper reaches of the world of historic buildings. They range from Sir Neil Cossons, who provides a succinct introduction which helps guide those who are looking for a book on John Fowler: to John Cornforth's 'The Inspiration of the Past'; to Louise Ward who provides the final beautifully crafted essay 'English Country House Style: The English Country House As It Might Have Been But Never Was'. Between these 'Genesis and Revelations' are chapters which rehearse a diversity of experience and knowledge, with: personal recollections of Fowler related by Peter Inskip; problems of knowing what to do with his legacy by Tim Knox; explorations of Fowler's techniques for sourcing information on historic colour schemes, and expositions on the nature of historic paint research by Christine Sitwell, Patrick Baty and Ian Bristow; and explanation of the restoration of schemes at Kelmarsh Hall by Marianne Suhr and Ian Bristow.

The title of the book is perhaps a little misleading, but not inappropriate. The book is about John Fowler, but is also about his sources of inspiration and these included Nancy Lancaster. Her influence on Fowler and their contribution to interior decoration in the post-war era, both in the UK and the USA, and what might be better described as the 'invention of the World of Interiors style' is also explored. What the title hides is that the book reflects the huge strides that historic paint research has made since Fowler and Lancaster undertook their early scrapes with the ubiquitous threepenny bit (was it a silver or brass one?). It is possibly this aspect that those involved in building conservation would find of particular interest in the book.

Having a passion for the arcane and esoteric, I was particularly drawn to the arguments about which colour scheme should be 'restored' in the entrance hall at Kelmarsh. This is a house designed by James Gibbs and published in his A Book of Architecture. Ian Bristow's analysis discovered the Gibbs paintwork, but the decision was made to conserve and repair a 1950s touch up of Nancy Lancaster's inter-war scheme, a decision which would surely have been unlikely twenty years ago.

Painted decorations are the most ephemeral of architectural statements. Their alteration is usually, literally, skin deep. What this book does illustrate is quite how valuable this archaeological evidence is and how it can be used as a major tool in historic building conservation. As Louise Ward so charmingly describes the ideal country house (Waugh's Brideshead): 'a palimpsest with every generation leaving their mark but never removing the evidence of what was there before', and so it is with paint layers.

Peter Riddington
Peter Riddington is an architect in private practice with Donald Insall Associates Ltd,
19 West Eaton Place, London SW1X 8LT