In 2001 the Bannermans were asked to re-develop this Victorian farmhouse and garden in Wiltshire to create a new 50ft drawing room and master bedroom complex and and indoor pool. Their idea was so bold it seemed unlikely that anyone would have the bravery to build it. But the “Jigsaw” clothing founder John Robinson so loved the model of a ruined mediaeval Abbey and cloister with two Orangeries overlaid in the 18th century manor, one to house the pool and the other tender plants and guests, that he went on to ask for a walled vegetable garden, tennis court enclosure, formal water tank, boathouse, grass mount, parkland planting etc., Fascinated by ruins since forever, the Bannermans devised a method of using reclaimed church windows and details to help make the pool and eating out areas enclosed, intimate and unique. All the detailing from door handles to bell tower were painstakingly detailed by them in conjunction with conservation architect Bruce Yeoll, and they took part daily in the project including physical building. As a result no builder ever emptied his cement mixer in a future flower bed. The whole miracle has since been described by one Sunday supplement as the family’s ‘300yr old ancestral home’ – so convincing is the mood. Planting is deeply luxurious, scented and concentrated on high summer when the family are there