The uplifting Yorkshire home of textile designer Natasha James

Built in the 1890s, Sleightholmedale Lodge perches on the side of a steep wooded valley overlooking the Hodge Beck, a stream running south off the North York Moors over limestone. There is a magical resonance to the names of the dales: Hold Cauldron, Kirkdale, Gillamoor, Bransdale, Fadmoor and Sleightholmedale. A much beloved home for five generations, the house was given to the beautiful Lady Ulrica Duncombe, Patrick’s great-grandmother, as a wedding present from her father, William Duncombe, 1st Earl of Feversham in 1899. It was originally built as a lodge to be used during the summer months, but it soon became the family’s main home and life has centred around farming and gardening ever since.

The meadows have been nurtured for diversity and wildlife and, on open days, visitors would flock to see the beautiful garden created by Patrick’s mother, Rosanna, which was famous for its blue poppies, hollyhocks and naturalised Tulipa sprengeri. Gardening writer Robin Lane Fox once described it as one of his top 10 ‘heavenly places’.

So it was not without trepidation that Natasha started to tackle the project and the changes it would entail. ‘When I first came here, I was struck by how lovely and slow it all was – the cows, the flat meadows and snaking river below. Bats flew from the eaves at dusk. It felt almost lost in time,’ she recalls.

Natasha wanted to approach the house with a light touch so as to not lose any of its Edwardian charm. ‘It was originally a place for summer holidays, so it was never meant to be grand or ornate,’ she says. ‘For instance, there are no cornices in the rooms. Nor was there any central heating. All the furniture had been bought at once from Heal’s.’ Her goal was to keep the spirit of the place: ‘I didn’t want to dispel the light-hearted feel that Patrick’s mother had preserved so wonderfully.’

Many years ago, the house had been divided up to share it with Patrick’s grandmother. With just one family inhabiting it again, they were keen to open up the divisions and the small, dark passageways. This meant a few bold changes were required. To improve the flow, Natasha moved the staircase round so it sits directly opposite the front door. A cluster of smaller rooms was opened up to create a generous family kitchen, where french windows were installed to bring in the light and reveal the spectacular views down over the dale.

‘Winters can be long and dark in Yorkshire,’ says Natasha. ‘I wanted to bring in some bright Mediterranean colour.’ She loves fabrics from Raoul Textiles and The Peggy Angus Collection from Blithfield, the naive Bloomsbury charm of which seems to chime with the simplicity of the house. And here and there she has used strong colours on the walls – a sitting room is painted a striking scarlet (‘Atomic Red’ by Little Greene) and a hallway in ‘Della Robbia Blue’ from Papers and Paints.

‘There were so many windows needing curtains, and so many bedheads and chairs to be covered. The idea of creating my own textile designs had been bubbling away, but the house spurred me on and gave me the push I needed,’ says Natasha, explaining why she launched Tasha Textiles in 2019.

Produced in beautifully clear colours – apple greens, tomato reds, fresh blues and yellows – the printed Belgian linens evoke the mood of Swedish artist Carl Larsson’s Home, Family and Farm watercolours (the paintings have always been among her favourites). A distinctive, almost folky spirit unites the designs, despite a variety of influences. One was inspired by a pattern she spotted on a headboard in Sweden, another by an Indian kantha throw. One of the first motifs she used came from a jug she had seen in the Victoria & Albert Museum, SW7. The repeat, block-print style of her fabrics mean they mix well with those she has collected and used throughout the house.

Bedrooms feel welcoming and comfortable, with pretty fireplaces and botanical watercolours by Emma Tennant on the walls. Beds are covered with antique quilts and feature Natasha’s linens on valances and curtains. Sometimes, she has used the same design throughout; in others she has mixed them up joyfully. William Nicholson’s An Alphabet woodcuts and The Farmer’s Year wood engravings by Clare Leighton line an upstairs corridor. Rag rugs, kilim runners and dhurries add to the richly layered effect. In every corner of the house there is something of interest to delight the eye – attesting to Natasha’s wonderful visual sense of pattern and colour.

Tasha Textiles: tashatextiles.com