Whether you're embarking on a new-build or painstakingly restoring a listed building, here is our choice of the craftsmen with excellent foundations.
More from the Country Life Top 100:
Lapicida — NEW ENTRY
Offering one of the most impressive selections of new and antique natural stone, marble and Italian porcelain tiles in the country, Lapicida operates from a vast, spectacular showroom near Harrogate in North Yorkshire. Founded by Jason Cherrington in 1984, the business is still run by him today, together with his sister and design director Rebecca Cherrington. Now, Mr Cherrington’s two sons also work for the company.
In addition to its extensive collection of tiles, Lapicida uses its on-site fabrication facility — part of the three-acre site — to offer a bespoke service, including 3D design and water-jet cutting. Expect an unusual depth of knowledge, driven by Mr Cherrington’s expertise, and a high level of craftsmanship, evident in Lapicida’s work for Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, and Wentworth Woodhouse, South Yorkshire. Known for supplying architects, interior designers, retailers and private clients across the UK, Europe and the US, the company also offers magnificent stone and marble baths and a collection of garden ornaments and interior-design accessories under its sister brand, Ornamenti by Lapicida.
01423 400100; www.lapicida.com
Artichoke
Widely respected in the design and manufacture of joinery-led rooms for country houses, this Somerset firm takes a keen interest in how best sensitively to update period homes for modern families. Domestic spaces and kitchens are its forte, with recent projects including a Grade I-listed Jacobean manor and a castle on the Isle of Wight.
01934 745270; www.artichoke-ltd.com
Credit: Artichoke
Artorius Faber
A family-run British natural-stone specialist based in Yeovil, Somerset, the firm produces interior flagstone flooring, external paving and architectural detailing. All Artorius Faber products are created from scratch in the company’s workshops, often with stone from its own quarry. It also sources and reworks reclaimed materials. Projects include Georgian townhouses, country estates and major heritage buildings. It undertakes projects across the UK and a complete site-survey, design and installation service is available.
01935 847333; www.artoriusfaber.com
Credit: Nick Smith Photography/Artorius Faber
Knowles
Founded by Robin Knowles in 2010, this company provides a comprehensive service, from concept to completion, and undertakes construction, structural and heritage work across London and the Home Counties. It has particular experience in working with councils and privately owned estates, including the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster City Council, as well as the Grosvenor and Cadogan estates. Projects include two private residences in St John’s Wood and luxury townhouses in Knightsbridge, as well as private country estates in Surrey, Gloucestershire and Berkshire.
020–3988 7994; www.knowles.uk.com
Knowles. Credit: Alex Harvey-Brown
Prime Oak
The market leader in the manufacture and construction of oak-frame garden rooms, orangeries and annexes in the UK, Prime Oak also produces timber-frame garages and stables, employing sustainable oak that is air-dried in the company’s own yards.
01384 296611; www.primeoak.co.uk
Credit: Prime Oak
R. Moulding & Co
This eighth-generation, family-owned and managed builder specialises in the restoration and construction of country houses, in addition to carrying out bespoke joinery and preventative maintenance. The Wiltshire-based firm also provides maintenance and restoration services to English Heritage throughout the South-West.
01722 742228; www.mouldingthebuilder.co.uk
Credit: Jake Eastham / R Moulding & Co
Stevensons of Norwich
From a bespoke decorative plaster ceiling for a ballroom to handmade cornices and ceiling roses, Stevensons of Norwich creates, instals and restores all kinds of intricate plasterwork. The firm has recently completed a large-scale lime plaster restoration project at Reuben College, Oxford.
01603 400824; www.stevensons-of-norwich.co.uk
Credit: Stevensons of Norwich
Stuart Interiors
Established more than 40 years ago, this family-run bespoke-joinery firm produces traditional timber panelling, ceilings, doors, staircases and furniture. The Somerset-based company also offers historic research and consultancy services, as well as expert advice on period details.
01935 826659; www.stuartinteriors.com
W. G. Carter
Specialising in the restoration and renovation of country and heritage houses, many of them listed, this full-service company operates from its Abingdon base across Oxfordshire, the Cotswolds and the surrounding counties. Established in 1947, the practice was recognised at the 2022 Oxford Preservation Trust Awards for its pivotal role in the preservation and refurbishment of a listed Oxford property.
01865 864626; www.wgcarter.co.uk
Credit: W. G. Carter
Carpenter Oak
This esteemed specialist has been designing and making timber-frame buildings since 1987, with a portfolio that spans commercial and public projects, such as an oak pergola, larch trellising and 22 oak benches for the British Normandy Memorial, which was officially opened in 2021, to residential oak-frame new-builds, cabins and extensions.
01803 732900; www.carpenteroak.com
Distinctive Country Furniture
With more than 100 years of combined experience, the team has worked on a wide range of Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian homes and listed buildings around the UK, providing a bespoke design, make and installation service for period homes, using traditional methods to achieve a timeless look. Projects include creating furniture, panelling, doors, staircases, studies, libraries, kitchens, dressing rooms, chambers, garden furniture and secret bookcase doors.
01935 825800; www.distinctivecountryfurniture.co.uk
Locker & Riley
A plasterwork specialist that oversees every step from design to installation, this family firm recently restored the lime plaster at the Grade I-listed Buxton Crescent thermal spa in Derbyshire, which was built by the 5th Duke of Devonshire in the 1780s.
01245 322022; www.lockerandriley.com
Oakwrights
This award-winning firm creates oak-frame homes and extensions, garden buildings and garages. It uses renewable green oak and can advise on energy efficiency. In 2017, the company built the first oak-frame Passivhaus in the UK, using its own encapsulation panels.
01432 353353; www.oakwrights.co.uk
Credit: Mark Watts / Oakwrights
R. W. Armstrong
This family-owned residential builder was founded in 1957. From its base in Hampshire, it specialises in the refurbishment and renovation of country homes and listed properties, as well as the construction of bespoke new houses, both contemporary and traditional in style. The firm also offers an in-house bespoke-joinery service.
01256 850177; www.rwarmstrong.co.uk
Rose of Jericho
Known for the manufacture and supply of traditional paints and lime mortars, there is little this Dorset-based team doesn’t know about the materials used in the conservation, repair and decoration of traditional and historic buildings. The firm can also advise on and provide materials tailored to individual needs. Recent projects include analysis at the Tower of London and paint for the chapel at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
01935 83676; www.roseofjericho.co.uk
Credit: Rose of Jericho
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