Martin Fleming’s spacious and curvaceous home only needs minimal heating thanks to its energy efficient design features

WORDS SOPHIE GALE

PHOTOS CAMILLA REYNOLDS

Buckland Hall is a fairytale-like mansion set amongst the woodland and mountains of the Brecon Beacons National Park, near Powys in Wales. Some 20 years ago, Martin Fleming moved his young family into a small cottage within its grounds to take up the post of managing director, where he would renovate and oversee the Hall as a wedding venue and retreat. An investment syndicate set up with friends made the project possible, aided by his background in facilities management.

It was always part of the plan that Martin would build his own home within the estate. As part of the repayment for a loan he put into the investment company, he was given a tract of land, to which he would turn his attention when works to the main house allowed.

The property is finished in a combination of stone, red bricks and white render

The project would have nothing like the grandiosity of the Hall itself; where the mansion boasts 30 bedrooms, this would have four. Yet the house where Martin now lives with his daughter, a teacher, and son, a City banker, is not without a little magic of its own.

Characterful details

A number of unusual features deliver the charm. Foremost is the curvy roof, which is clad in red cedar with sedum planting on top. The soft edges continue into the interior, too. A large hallway, coated in Keim mineral paints that leave a textured finish, has a rounded ceiling that creates a cavern-like effect. Together with the building’s sustainable credentials, it all adds up to a real one-off.

Martin, who studied architecture for two years, though switched to philosophy, designed it himself. “With all of the curves and the whitewashed walls, I was looking to reference Mediterranean homes. I actually had places like Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame Du Haut chapel in mind for the interior,” he says. “I would like to think the place has an organic feel to it, as though it were hewn out of the landscape, though it’s actually a recent addition.”