A country house story: Jane Churchill’s Astor Cottage

For more than three decades, Jane Churchill has worked from London’s design district on Pimlico Road, where her cornflower-blue shop and studio are a showcase for her quintessentially English approach to decoration – all richly patterned fabrics, upholstered furniture and a distinctive mix of old and new.

Over in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, that sensibility takes on a more personal dimension. Enter Astor Cottage. Surrounded by fields and woodland a quiet hamlet, the four-bedroom thatched cottage has been part of Jane’s family for years, although its future was once far from certain. Following a fire, the house was carefully restored, initially with the intention of selling. Just as it was about to come to market, however, Jane’s son bought it. “It’s the best thing he’s ever done,” she says. “It’s been wonderful for his life with the children and to keep it close.”

The cottage’s next chapter offered Jane the opportunity to put her lifelong knack for design to work. A great-niece of Nancy Lancaster, the influential tastemaker behind Colefax & Fowler, Jane grew up surrounded by interiors and the culture of decoration. “You naturally absorb the practice of design around you,” she explains. 

Although Astor Cottage has the only thatched roof in the hamlet, its interiors are far from an exercise in nostalgia, with each room generous enough to offer an interesting canvas for reinvention. Throughout, inherited furniture and contemporary textiles sit comfortably alongside one another, giving the house a character that feels collected.

The drawing room is a case in point. Timber beams span the ceiling, while richly patterned upholstery, tactile carpets and a generous hearth create a space for settling in. Among the furnishings are pieces with more personal histories. “One painting was saved from the fire and now hangs at the back of the room,” Jane notes. Her sister’s lamps sit on a table painted by her grandmother; each touch weaves a little of the family’s story into the room.

In the kitchen, the emphasis shifts to gathering. A dining table seats 10 comfortably, positioned to look out towards the garden. Botanical-print blinds and a green trellis made by a local carpenter frame the view, pulling the surrounding countryside indoors. It’s a room designed as much for lingering over meals as for preparing them.

That easy approach to entertaining extends outdoors. “The home is as lovely in the summer as it is in the winter,” Jane says. In warmer months, a wood-fired pizza oven comes into its own, for long lunches and suppers beneath the open sky. As the nights draw in, the house turns to the games table and home bar for backgammon and nightcaps by the fire.

Upstairs, Jane has given each of the four bedrooms its own personality, united by the sense of comfort that runs throughout the house. She has a particular fondness for the yellow bedroom, where vaulted ceilings and whitewashed beams create an airy, restful feel. An en suite concealed behind a curved wall adds an unexpected architectural detail to the otherwise traditional setting. “It’s my favourite room,” she smiles.

Beyond the cottage, the hamlet has an unhurried quality of its own. With no shops nearby, the surrounding countryside feels pleasantly removed from everyday bustle, although Charlbury station is just a short drive away. “Practically nowhere else could you get such easy access,” Jane says, referring to the straightforward journey from London.

The wider Cotswolds unfolds from here. For provisions and days out, there’s plenty within easy reach. Daylesford is a favourite for its farm shop, homewares and spa, as is Soho Farmhouse. “It’s absolutely brilliant, especially for kids,” Jane says. Cornbury Park’s summer festivals bring music and theatre to the surrounding countryside, while visits to Blenheim Palace have become a family tradition, particularly at Christmas.

Back at Astor Cottage, it’s the slower countryside rituals that give the house its appeal: fields to explore, unhurried lunches that stretch into the afternoon and a fire to gather around. “The location could not feel more English,” Jane says. Yet for all its traditional country charm, the cottage is anything but a showpiece. From the paintings rescued from the fire to furniture handed down through the family, there’s a warmth to the house that comes from things inherited, restored and, above all, lived with. An enduring portrait of family life, with another generation now making it their own.