The contemporary appeal of the Cotswolds

“A question I get asked a lot,” says Guy Wengraf, founder of boutique developer Vitruvius & Co, “is if we have any regrets about moving to the Cotswolds. None at all. It’s a good life out here.” 

There was a time when a home in the Cotswolds was a weekend bolthole or a second home, says Harry Sheppard, a Partner in Knight Frank’s Oxford office who’s seen a “450 per cent growth in interest” in properties in the region since the Coronavirus pandemic. “With the rise of flexible working, people now want something pretty special as their primary home in a very desirable area.” 

One of Vitruvius & Co’s transformation projects, now for sale with Knight Frank, is a case in point. Hidden in the village of Swerford, Lansdowne Cottage was a small, dated limestone cottage that hadn’t been updated in decades. Today, though, it’s a three-to-four-bed house, with three bathrooms, three sitting rooms, a greenhouse, vegetable garden and separate guest annex-cum-studio. With its contemporary interiors and designer furniture, it could be an offshoot of Soho House – and that’s the point. 

“Younger buyers are looking for property that’s altogether more stylish,” Sheppard says, “and we’re seeing many more metropolitan buyers looking in this part of the world.” This is perhaps unsurprising, with Soho Farmhouse just five minutes away, Bamford a mere 10 minutes’, and five-star country hotel and members’ club Estelle Manor less than 25 minutes’ drive. “It’s not just that they’re here,” adds Wengraf, “it’s what they bring. You bump into friends there, you have space to work and relax, it’s a different kind of proposition.” 

But Sheppard says people often underestimate the investment of time, money and energy that goes into transforming, for example, an historic Cotswolds cottage into a well-appointed family home. This is where Vitruvius & Co. comes into play. “We’re a developer, an interior designer and a project management company,” explains Wengraf. “From a client's perspective, we’re turnkey.” 

The added value for buyers, says Sheppard, is that where planning application processes can put people off, Vitruvius makes it simple. “Guy can come in and say ‘I know how to deal with that and I can do it. I know what the end goal can be, and can see it’.” Lansdowne Cottage is living proof. “It was a relatively small house, but a large plot with fantastic views over the valley and it wasn’t listed,” Wengraf explains. “We recognised the opportunity to significantly remodel and extend the house.” 

There will always be those who dream of creating their ‘grand design’ in the countryside, but says Sheppard, “more people are buying houses that are completely ready, because they’re not just buying a house, they’re buying a life. When someone like Guy has come along and delivered it, all I have to do is give them the key.” 

Lansdowne Cottage is for sale with a guide price of £2,000,000. Please contact harry.sheppard@knightfrank.com with any enquiries. Learn more about Vitruvius & Co’s work at instagram.com/vitruviusandco