Combe
House, Gittisham Devon
A
Supplement to Dine Online's Review
Ken's
folly
With
an impish grin on his face, Ken took
me to see his latest crazy idea.
Not only does Combe House still possess
a vast Georgian kitchen complete
with ranges that would not look out
of place in Hampton Court Palace,
but there is a large wine cellar
and a laundry room, both of which
offered interesting possibilities
to someone of Ken's inventive and
charmingly eccentric mind. The cellar
has since been completely renovated
and is well stocked with the fruits
of Ken's perceptive and wide ranging
tastes in wine. (And a little help
from my old pal Christopher Piper).
But
the laundry was where we were
headed on this occasion, with
it's great high-ceilinged drying
chamber. When I first saw it
in 1999 it was pretty well derelict.
In the meantime Ken has laid
an honest floor of stout wide
pine planks. Overhead there is
an extraordinary contraption
for raising quantities of sheets
and other washing to the ceiling
where it could dry out in the
hot air from the furnace, which
was removed many years back.
Ken has plans to continue renovating
the room, without tarting it
up, but he's planning a wood
fired stove in which prepared
meals can be left.
Combe
House is well placed as a halfway
house on the road to West Devon
and Cornwall, so Ken wants to
encourage people to stop off
in family groups having booked
the laundry in advance. You will
have the old laundry room to
yourselves - you will help yourselves
to a great meal from the oven
- wine, beer and soft drinks
will be at hand. After your meal
you can get into a bath robe
and sneak across to the Victorian
bath house, where natural water
is heated over a wood fired boiler.
Refreshed both within and without,
you will continue on your journey,
looking forward greatly to your
next visit on the return journey.
Progress
Report
The great kitchen
has been restored (above right),
and it makes a wonderful
venue for parties and private gatherings.
You should see it decked out at Christmas
time - Scrooge eat your heart out!
The bathhouse, wildly eccentric is
fully operational. Rainwater is collected
into a large tank which is directly
heated by a log burning fire. Then
all you have to do is jump into the
near boiling water and sing very
loudly! The laundry room has been
commandeered by Ken for his office,
and I got the feeling that he is
not inclined to give it up too readily!
I
think it all sounds wonderful,
invigorating, inspiring and totally
mad. But then most of the best
things in life are pretty crazy.
Take sex for instance, who the
hell thought that up?
Clifford
Mould, 2002, 2004
Back
to our review of Combe House
