Kelmarsh Hall is a beautiful Grade I listed country house in Northamptonshire, 5 miles south of Market Harborough - with Pevsner describing the building as 'a perfect, extremely reticent design, done in impeccable taste'. The house was built in 1732 for famous antiquarian William Hanbury who lived in the estate until his death - and since then it has had numerous owners, all of whom left their mark.

 

However, the most notable occupier of the house was society decorator and partner in the decorating firm Colefax & Fowler, Nancy Lancaster. Her taste for combining comfort and formality set the trend for Twentieth Century country houses, and Kelmarsh Hall was her pride and joy. 

 

With its Italian pink walls and fine plasterwork ceiling, the Main Hall is one of the most beautiful rooms in the house, however the interior decorative wall scheme was showing signs of deterioration. The wall surface was cracking and delaminating from the substrate, the paintwork on the ceiling was peeling, and overall it was showing signs of age. Overseen by both The University of Lincoln and Campbell Smith & Co, consolidation was completed on the interior decorative scheme to preserve it for future generations.