A Weekend in the English Countryside with Farrow & Ball

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting England for the launch of Farrow & Ball‘s latest (and I’d say most gorgeous) wallpaper line.  I had spent a few weeks in London and the surrounding English countryside before (in my college days), but I was eager to escape the Georgia heat and return, this time with fall in the air and design on my mind.  And F&B‘s invitation to celebrate its 70th anniversary gave me the perfect excuse to jump the pond.

With it’s unparalleled paint and beautiful wallpaper designs, F&B has always been an iconic brand and mainstay for us here in the design industry (and beyond).  So I was delighted at the opportunity to step into F&B‘s world and experience where it all began and learn just what makes Farrow & Ball truly the best of the best.  

The history proved to be fascinating; F&B was founded in 1946 by John Farrow and Richard Ball, two true paint pioneers.  They met working at a local clay pit, then went on to build their first factory in Dorset.  From there, the brand began its bespoke offering of beautiful paints and a hand-crafted wallpaper line.  In the 60s, the duo sold the company to Norman Chappell (yes, THE Chappell of Chappell Green), and the company was moved to Wimborne, where it currently resides, and where my story begins.  

Arriving to Heathrow, a bit jet lagged but excited, the Mr. and I quickly jumped in our car navigating the English roundabouts and wrong-side-of-the-road driving to arrive in Wimborne in just about two hours.  We walked around town, ate fish and chips, but called it an early evening as the next day I’d be joining F&B at the stunning Dean’s Court.

Dean’s Court, with a 1,300-year story, is a beautiful, traditional manor house that boasts gorgeous grounds and 13 acres that have been at the center of a rural English community for centuries. It’s even been in the same Hanham family for nearly 500 years, with the current Hanham descendants still living in it!  Fortunately for us, the estate is open to the public through tours and events, as well as through private weddings and events. During our morning at Dean’s Court, we noshed on scones, were introduced to F&B’s latest wallpaper line, and toured the manor, getting lost in its history.  I was immediately taken with the perfectly manicured lawns and the feeling like I was walking inside history at every step.  

After a lovely lunch in town, we headed down the road to where the magic happens; Farrow & Ball headquarters.  We made lampshades with the gorgeous wallpaper, and watched F&B’s custom paint and wallpaper process.  A process that I was thoroughly fascinated by.  Hopefully you were following along on Snapchat and Instagram while I was there, because I shared behind-the-scenes footage of F&B’s process when creating its paint and hand-crafted wallpaper.  The paint process was top notch of course, but the wallpaper was truly mind blowing.  F&B hand-stamps all of its wallpaper, using just three colors.  The paper is first painted with F&B paint, then stamped with a traditional block and trough method (versus your typical ink printing).  Each print has texture to the touch, turning each wallpaper design into an individual work of art in that sense.  The result is simply breath taking.

I walked away from the trip appreciating the by-hand process and procedure behind everything that F&B makes.  While the brand periodically releases new paint and wallpaper collections with limited edition colors, you have to wait every two or three years!  If you remember Chappell Green, you’ll recall that it was an extremely stunning, extremely popular limited edition paint color.  I was crazy about the color when it was released, but grew worried that I couldn’t get it once it was pulled.  BUT what I learned on my trip was that F&B allows you to directly order previous selections through them with the serial number and color code.  So you can rest assured that you’ll always have access to your signature shade when needed years and years from now.  Talk about dedication to the craft and to the design!  Truly, MKR