About

The Engine House sits in the quiet park area of what were once the grounds of Barton Hall. It was built to provide the stately home with electricity, but in 1914 a fire ripped through the hall and The Engine House and its two oil powered engines were rendered redundant. In the intervening years it served as a makeshift artist’s studio, a forge and a store for fruit and veg (until just a few years ago the grocer’s penciled calculations still covered the walls). It was bought in 2014, 100 years after the fire. The design (by an old friend, Michael Corsar), restoration and new build took four years. The beauty of the finished building has been captured here by architectural photographer Jefferson Smith.

The furnishings are the product of 15 years worth of collecting, picked up in flea markets from Lisbon to northern California. More recent comforts include underfloor heating, a large double ended bath, wood burning stove and elegant modern glazing looking out onto a private walled garden.

The house is a short drive from Bury St Edmunds. Its beautiful architecture spans over 1,000 years, from the medieval ruins of the Abbey of St Edmund, with the eccentric insertion of houses into its west front in the 1800s, to handsome Georgian Squares. The city has generous green spaces, cinemas, restaurants and a market every Wednesday and Saturday.