Photographed by Jooney Woodward1/18The driveway to Nantclwyd Hall, which became the countryseat of the Naylor-Leyland baronets. As the story goes, the first lawn tennis match was played on its grounds, establishing the rules of today’s modern game.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward2/18The hall near the front entrance to the home is adorned with a trompe l’oeil wall covering chosen by interior designer John Fowler, and a piano and original marble fireplace decorated with nods to the Naylor-Leyland military history and tributes to George Naylor-Leyland, the second son of Sir Herbert, who was killed in the Great War at age 22.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward3/18The oak sitting room is situated just off of the bar area and is a gathering place for the family after dinner. Tom plays the piano, usually boogie, country, or blues, and everyone sings. Fowler outfitted the space with window fabrics from George Spencer in London; pink chairs with red tassel trim; and portraits of Tom’s great-great-great-grandparents, his French grandmother Marguerite’s ancestors. Tom’s mother, Isabella, purchased the cushions on the sofa from various antique shops throughout London.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward4/18Lady Isabella’s tearoom is a sanctuary of sorts for Tom’s mother. The fabric is called “Roses and Leaves” and is believed to have come from Ramm, Son & Crocker. Artwork by Tom and his siblings from when they were at school as kids punctuates the tearoom, as does the taxidermy on top of the bookshelf, acquired from a man called Cedric on Portobello Road.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward5/18Staffordshire dogs on the bookshelf in Lady Isabella’s tearoom.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward6/18The dining room, set for dinner after a long day out on the hunt, features gilded mirrors and neutral-colored drapery set against pale green, leaf-printed wallpaper.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward7/18Monogrammed napkins for Alice and her guests during the hunt weekend. “I had the same ones made for our wedding,” Alice notes.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward8/18The library is another post-dinner gathering place for the Naylor-Leyland family, located just off of the dining room. Tom’s mother, Isabella, is fond of this space because of the view of the garden and its wooden obelisks.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward9/18Just off the library, a needlepoint pillow depicting a hunting scene.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward10/18A view at the top of the stairs with two giant tapestries that once hung in the old Baronial Hall of the house but were moved in 1959. At the center, an original chandelier.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward11/18Before the 1959 remodeling, the old house had extensively Neo-Jacobean interiors done in the 19th century with very dark paneling. The gargoyles that lead to the second-floor attic space were on the posts of the old staircase, and when Tom’s parents redid the attic again in the 1990s, they decided to keep them for a gothic effect.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward12/18At the top of the stairs in the second-floor attic there is a large case displaying a diplomatic corps uniform that once belonged to Sir Edward Naylor-Leyland 2nd Baronet. As Tom explains, laughing, “His shoe size was 4!”
Photographed by Jooney Woodward13/18A guest bedroom called the Victoria room features a brass bed and pastel blue settee. Fowler incorporated the bedding fabric onto the Victorian chairs flanking the fireplace, above which hangs a portrait of Jeannie Chamberlain from Cleveland, Ohio, who was married to Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland 1st Baronet. The portrait of the baby above the nightstand is Sir Edward “Edley” Naylor-Leyland.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward14/18The wooden toilet, deep tub, and fabric walls inside the oak bathroom just off the Victoria room. The portrait above the toilet depicts Colonel Tom Naylor-Leyland, and the bright pink and blue floral walls match the bedding in the adjoining room.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward15/18Alice and Tom once hid under the bed of the oak bedroom to scare their guest who was staying there, as they believe it may actually be haunted. “He was really freaked,” Alice remembers. For an English country home, however, the interiors are rather bright and lively, even in the pink and crimson hue and damask of this medieval canopy bed.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward16/18A glass panel protects the original Fowler rose-printed wallpaper from splashing water in an upstairs bath.
Photographed by Jooney Woodward17/18Looking toward the window in the decidedly English country-style lilac room, with a feminine dressing table and two framed posters that read “Praise the Lord for his goodness” and “Serve the Lord with gladness.”
Photographed by Jooney Woodward18/18In the bay window bath, Fowler incorporated toile de Jouy wall fabric, probably from Colefax and Fowler in the 1950s.
