Ep. 485: Ben Pentreath's New Book
British architect and interior designer Ben Pentreath returns to the podcast to discuss his new book, A Year at the Parsonage, co-authored with his husband, Charlie McCormick. The book functions as a deeply personal visual diary of the 15 years the couple spent living in an 1820 Regency house in Dorset, England. Rather than staging polished lifestyle scenes, Ben and Charlie photographed the book themselves, capturing authentic daily moments, the evolving interiors, and the passage of seasons in Charlie's beloved garden. Ben initially rented the Dorset parsonage in a rundown state, complete with black mold—a condition he prefers, as it allows for updates without feeling guilty about tearing out a previous landlord’s expensive renovations. Nestled in an unspoiled estate village owned by the Williams family for nearly 300 years, the home began with neutral pale gray and white walls due to a lack of time and budget. Over the years, the home's palette shifted drastically: The dining room was painted "Victoria Plum," a 1960s purple inspired by David Hicks that looked magical by candlelight but made guests look ill during the day. It was later painted bright sky blue and eventually wallpapered for a Morris & Co. photoshoot. The kitchen transitioned from white to Farrow & Ball's burnt orange "Wet Sand," then to a high-gloss bright yellow that felt like living inside an egg yolk, before finally returning to white. While Ben stresses that architectural and structural decisions should be thoroughly planned, he believes interior decoration is easily overthought. Embrace Change: Repainting a room is an inexpensive and fast way to completely shift a home's energy. Physical Inspiration: To avoid losing digital inspiration, Ben prints out his phone screenshots, cuts off the social media logos, writes notes on the back, and pins them to his office wall to discover his personal style over time. The Soul of a Room: A room's true character comes from its people, pets, and the practical comfort of daily life, not from perfectly color-matched piping. When the Williams family decided to sell the Dorset estate, Ben and Charlie embraced the change and moved to Scotland. They purchased a mid-18th-century home called Westness on Rousay, an Orkney island with only 200 residents. The unspoiled property features a ten-acre garden where Charlie is currently clearing an overgrown Victorian walled space to cultivate vegetables. Have you ever experimented with a bold paint color that looked vastly different in the daylight than you originally intended? Please send in your decorating dilemmas to podcast@ballarddesigns.net so we can help you with your space! Don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
