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My Houzz: A Stylishly Curated Cotswolds Cottage That Mixes Old and New
A creative couple in the Cotswolds have packed their home with cool and quirky collections and one-off pieces guaranteed to raise a smile
‘We quite like doing things our way and going against the grain a bit,’ says Mel Moss. ‘It does make life a bit tricky, trying to be different, but I hate the idea that I might have the same things as other people.’ You certainly couldn’t accuse the place Moss and her husband, Jay Jay Burridge, call home of looking identical to anyone else’s. This gorgeous Oxfordshire house, which they share with two young sons and a menagerie of animals who pop in and out, has a unique interior, packed with pieces collected from around the world and often bought for a few pennies.
The house is one of around 50 properties on the estate and had been recently renovated when Moss and Burridge moved in, some six years ago. The house was the last one on the estate to be renovated and modernised. ‘So when we moved in it was all new inside, but this lovely old Cotswolds farmhouse outside,’ says Burridge. ‘The best of both worlds.’
The property had originally been one house, but was divided into two when Moss and Burridge came to live in it. About three years ago, just as the couple were considering finding a bigger home, their neighbours moved out and the estate agreed to knock the two homes together. ‘The two houses link on the ground floor, but the bedrooms above are separate, so it’s nice and private for when friends come to stay,’ says Burridge.
The property had originally been one house, but was divided into two when Moss and Burridge came to live in it. About three years ago, just as the couple were considering finding a bigger home, their neighbours moved out and the estate agreed to knock the two homes together. ‘The two houses link on the ground floor, but the bedrooms above are separate, so it’s nice and private for when friends come to stay,’ says Burridge.
Cash (on the left) and Carter sit with their parents at the powder-coated metal and wood table Burridge designed. ‘For almost the whole time we’ve lived here, Jay Jay has been looking for a garden table,’ says Moss. ‘As he’s an artist and designer, he’s very specific about what he wants and begrudges spending a fortune on something he could make himself.’
The metal sign was found in France. ‘We have a thing about old signs,’ says Moss. ‘We go for the colours and graphics, rather than what they’re advertising; this one is for tyres. It brings extra colour outside.’
Garden table and benches, Rectables
The metal sign was found in France. ‘We have a thing about old signs,’ says Moss. ‘We go for the colours and graphics, rather than what they’re advertising; this one is for tyres. It brings extra colour outside.’
Garden table and benches, Rectables
Cash (pictured) and Carter love this treehouse, in a now-dead apple tree. Burridge built it by deconstructing an old playhouse and building it here instead. ‘We acquired the land to use as a chicken garden, fenced it off and that night the tree fell down in a storm. I was devastated!’ says Moss. ‘Jay Jay went ahead and built the house in it anyway. It was a labour of love. He’s a big kid and he was re-creating his own childhood treehouse here. Then I came along and hung bunting up in it!’
The hallway opens into the dining space, with an old child’s bike hung above, picked up in France. ‘We love putting things up on walls,’ says Moss with a smile.
The couple also regularly move their pieces around, rehanging paintings and changing displays. ‘It’s not necessarily about objects and paintings, it’s the space in-between them that matters; that dynamic needs to work, too,’ says Burridge.
The couple also regularly move their pieces around, rehanging paintings and changing displays. ‘It’s not necessarily about objects and paintings, it’s the space in-between them that matters; that dynamic needs to work, too,’ says Burridge.
Moss and Burridge’s love of vintage signs is in evidence inside, too, and the house is peppered with unusual examples, often found in France and never costing a great deal.
Love vintage style but don’t have an old house? Check out how to mix vintage and modern
Love vintage style but don’t have an old house? Check out how to mix vintage and modern
This collection of old toys, figures and computer games consoles is in the downstairs loo. ‘The things Jay Jay collects are often related to his childhood,’ says Moss. ‘They are all things that make you smile!’
Burridge’s office is home to many of his favourite pieces, including an original rebel blaster gun from the film The Empire Strikes Back. ‘I like to parody conventional collections with my pieces,’ he says. ‘In a hunting lodge you might have rifles above the fireplace; I’ve got a blaster from a Star Wars film. It’s tongue in cheek.’
Discover how to create your own home office filled with vintage charm
Discover how to create your own home office filled with vintage charm
The exotic dancer neon artwork is by Burridge and was part of an exhibition in LA. Similar pieces are on display in Jamie Oliver’s pop-up diner in London’s Shaftesbury Avenue, for which Burridge was creative director. ‘Jay Jay often works in here by the light of his lap-dancing dinosaur,’ laughs Moss.
Some of Burridge’s collection of 60 Bakelite phones are displayed in his office. ‘They bring a sense of history and fun and a lot of them work,’ says Moss. ‘It takes a very long time to call anyone on them, though, because you have to dial each number. You then have to stand still for the call which, when you need to be marching around a house after children, isn’t always very easy!’
The snug has no TV and is a place to sit and read, play a board game or spend time with friends. ‘It’s my little corner of cheer and calm,’ says Moss. She loves the colourful rug in here. ‘It makes me so happy; it’s like a painting on the floor. It was totally my choice so a bit of a risk, as Jay might have hated it, but I got away with it.
Rug, Anthropologie.
Rug, Anthropologie.
A set of two armchairs, which Moss inherited from her mother, sit by the fire in the snug. The shelves are home to books, finds and more of Burridge’s beloved dinosaurs. ‘The painting is Jay Jay’s,’ says Moss. ‘He picks up old oil paintings then paints dinosaurs into them. So you have a perfectly nice countryside scene, and he puts a huge dino in the middle! He does the same with tapestries.’
‘The Singer sewing machine was my mum’s 21st birthday present from my grandfather,’ says Moss. ‘I still use it. It’s a lovely object.’ Moss found a set of four Snoopy images on eBay (three are visible here). ‘Carter is Snoopy obsessed, and we all love these!’
A painting on glass by artist Zebedee Helm, who is also a close friend, hangs above the sofa in the snug.
A collection of jelly moulds and a pair of cloches sit on this lovely old table. ‘I don’t like keys and letters left on tables, I would rather have one with nice things on it,’ says Moss. ‘You don’t need to overdo it,’ adds Burridge. ‘Three or four pieces in little groups is often enough. Too much stuff together can look like a museum.’
The MEL lights were a gift from Moss’s brother-in-law.
Painting, Zebedee Helm.
The MEL lights were a gift from Moss’s brother-in-law.
Painting, Zebedee Helm.
The snug flows into the dining space, which has a steeply pitched ceiling. The beams are decorated with bunting Burridge brought back from India many years ago.
This space was the kitchen before the two houses were knocked together. ‘It has three windows, so it’s nice and light,’ says Moss. She decorates the roof beams with ladders and flowers. ‘I love old ladders,’ she says. ‘No one seems to get as excited about old ladders as I do!’
Get ideas for creating an eclectic look in your own kitchen
Get ideas for creating an eclectic look in your own kitchen
‘We have several Kub bouillon tins, which I use to put flowers in,’ says Moss. ‘They never cost more than a couple of euros each.’ Burridge bought Moss the record player for her birthday. ‘I love the colour and I use it all the time,’ she says.
The family living room sees a lot of life. The rabbit likes to come in for a cuddle in the evenings and even the chickens wander in during summer, when the doors are open. ‘The stool is almost like another sofa, but as we often have lots of us in here, including all the animals, we need it,’ says Moss.
An original staircase is now blocked off and serves as shelves, holding more Star Wars figures, which the boys like to play with.
Art above fireplace, Jay Jay Burridge. Sofa and stool, both sofa.com.
An original staircase is now blocked off and serves as shelves, holding more Star Wars figures, which the boys like to play with.
Art above fireplace, Jay Jay Burridge. Sofa and stool, both sofa.com.
Moss inherited the dresser from her mother and it’s full of family memories. ‘I’ve known this dresser since I was a baby,’ she says. ‘When you open the doors, it still smells the same.’ Moss enjoys arranging pieces on it. ‘I get quite specific about dresser dressing!’ she laughs. ‘It makes me very happy.’ The tins on the top shelf are by her stepfather, designer Ian Logan.
‘This is where all the meals happen,’ says Moss. The boys can sit together on the pew, while the enamel-topped table from a junk shop in Whitstable is practical and hard-wearing.
Artwork (over pew), Zebedee Helm.
Artwork (over pew), Zebedee Helm.
China and enamelware line the shelves of the kitchen dresser, which used to stand in Moss’s mother’s house in the south of France.
Another tin sign, this time for Coca-Cola, makes a colourful splashback for the range.
Moss and Burridge have been collecting enamel pots for about 10 years now. ‘They were all really cheap,’ says Moss. ‘I like the white and blue pieces best. We also have lots of old potties, which we use for collecting scraps and potato peelings in for feeding the chickens.’
Moss and Burridge’s bedroom is home to crocheted bunting, brightening up the ceiling beam, and some much-loved artwork above the bed. ‘My stepfather gave me the old American railway signs on tin about 20 years ago when I left home,’ says Moss. ‘They are always the first thing I have to put up.’
The couple have a set of four Shell Tractor Oil prints, all featuring British birds and all hung in their bedroom. ‘We tend to get bored of pieces, but we never tire of these; we absolutely love them,’ says Moss. The chest of drawers came from a friend who no longer wanted it. ‘We stripped it back and now it holds everything,’ she says.
Star Wars figures crop up in the couple’s bedroom, too, perched on the chest of drawers.
The bunk bed in Cash’s room originally belonged to Burridge. His father, a set designer, made it and Burridge and his brother Cody slept in it. ‘It’s been lots of different colours over the years,’ says Moss.
Cash’s desk came from a brocante (second-hand market) in the South of France. ‘Like Jay Jay, he’s constantly drawing,’ says Moss. ‘He sits at that desk a lot, and loves to pretend to call people on the phone, too.’
This guest bedroom is home to a beautiful vintage French bed and a collection of Spanish bull fighting posters, also picked up in France.
The couple’s love of collecting knows no bounds. ‘We are good at picking things up, not so good about getting rid of stuff,’ says Burridge. ‘We hit critical mass several years ago. I now have a warehouse full of dinosaurs and furniture from the South of France.’
The couple’s love of collecting knows no bounds. ‘We are good at picking things up, not so good about getting rid of stuff,’ says Burridge. ‘We hit critical mass several years ago. I now have a warehouse full of dinosaurs and furniture from the South of France.’
Burridge made the triceratops from a dense, light foam, and then covered it in packing tape. Known as Trevor, it was originally in the front garden, but Moss and Burridge worried it might cause a car accident, so they moved it to the back. ‘People out walking often ask if they can take a photo,’ says Burridge.
In windy weather, they couple sometimes have to move Trevor to a sheltered spot. ‘He’s quite light, and we have had a few evenings where we’ve looked out and shouted, “Trevor’s gone!”’ says Moss. ‘If the wind gets behind his frills, he’s off!’
TELL US…
What do you think of this unique family home? Please share your thoughts in the Comments below.
In windy weather, they couple sometimes have to move Trevor to a sheltered spot. ‘He’s quite light, and we have had a few evenings where we’ve looked out and shouted, “Trevor’s gone!”’ says Moss. ‘If the wind gets behind his frills, he’s off!’
TELL US…
What do you think of this unique family home? Please share your thoughts in the Comments below.
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Who lives here? Jay Jay Burridge, an artist and sculptor, his wife, Mel Moss, a fashion consultant, their boys, Carter and Cash, plus a dog, two cats, a rabbit and five chickens. Jay Jay and Mel also run Lucky Seven bespoke hatters together
Location Cornbury Park, a Cotswolds country estate in Oxfordshire
Property A cottage built around 300 years ago
Size Six bedrooms and four bathrooms
‘I love the challenge of finding something so cheap it’s screaming to come home with you!’ says Jay Jay Burridge, laughing. ‘We like to see the charm and glory in things that are unloved and don’t cost a lot of money.’ These pieces, from enamelware and jelly moulds to Bakelite phones now pepper the rooms, along with Burridge’s beloved Star Wars memorabilia and his own artworks, often featuring dinosaurs.
The effect is a giddy mix, which is by turns intriguing, stylish and incredibly joyful. ‘I like to look into a room or a corner and see fun stuff that makes me smile,’ adds Mel Moss.