Country Cool photoshoot location – ‘Lidham Hill Farm West Sussex’
4th March 2016
We love to show you – our customers, lots of new deVOL kitchens, we love to pin the images, instagram them and generally make sure our customers all over the world get to see these amazing homes filled with style and of course deVOL cupboards in kitchens, utility rooms, boot rooms, bathrooms and even pool houses.
One of our customers wrote to ask us to ask if we would like to stay in their newly renovated farmhouse and holiday let and take pictures of their two deVOL kitchens and utility room. Of course we jumped at the chance, a trip to the south coast not far from Brighton in the beautiful West Sussex countryside, what a treat! The house had been renovated and styled to create an idyllic family home that also doubles as a photoshoot location and holiday retreat, so Tim and I packed our bags and went off to Lidham Hill Farm.
Lidham Hill Farm has a website with lots of lovely images, so we knew it was going to be fun and we would get some amazing photos, but we didn’t realise it was going to be spectacular. Down a winding country road with grass growing in the middle of the road, this grand old house is tucked away behind some beautiful wrought Iron Gates. You instantly get a feeling of being somewhere really special and completely un-contrived, no glitz or bling but a wistful and very authentic place that is just waiting to be explored. The light was immediately noticeable, soft and atmospheric, there was room after room of quirky, homely, really thoughtfully chosen furniture and objects that made this place feel very special, it was almost like being in a movie or an old childrens book like Narnia or Swallows and Amazons. Nothing was ordinary or obvious and it all seemed as if it had been there for years, modern art mixed with taxidermy, beautifully original and softly worn stone floors alongside brightly coloured fabrics and antiquarian books and maps. Simply every corner of this rambling place was a beautiful photo opportunity, from the old terracotta pots with overgrown lavender to the hand woven fences and spiky seed heads from last years verbenas. Oh and the completely beautiful rustic outdoor dining area with a view of the South Downs, the cows and chickens and the distant notion that the sea is somewhere close. Whether you want to marry, get away from the world or just write, draw and contemplate, this is the place you would want to come. If you wanted to take photographs for whatever reason, this is the place you would have to come to!!
I wasn’t that aware of using your home as a photoshoot location until I started doing all the styling and images for deVOL with Tim. You often don’t appreciate that magazines will go to great lengths to create a truly authentic feature in a magazine, similarly with catalogues and brochures, it’s often the backdrop to the products that is the part that really lures you in, the lifestyle it creates is what you really desire rather than just the product. So for a company to find a wonderful location that truly encapsulates their style and feel is really important. Companies like Toast and Anthropologie always pick amazing locations and it makes you want their things even more. Similarly, publications like Vogue will travel the world to get just the right look, if they wanted quintessential old English luxury, quirky sophistication and a feeling of faded glory this is the place they would come and probably will do as soon as they find it!!
Since we moved to Cotes Mill we have the luxury of our very own amazing building and grounds every day, it has brought our photos to life in a way we had never experienced before. We are so lucky to have literally hundreds of special little corners to pick every time we want to photograph something. It has taught us all the massive impact that locations have on creating your style and image. If you don’t have a place like the Mill at your disposal or if you are hunting for another equally awesome place to use as a backdrop for selling your products then you hunt for something that will enhance and give depth and character to whatever it is you are wanting to promote.
Lidham Hill Farm is somewhere that offers so much, I really hope our photos give you more than just a taste of the world of opportunities that lie behind the gates of this home.
