Stepping into Penicuik House feels like being welcomed into the home of a brilliantly well-travelled friend – one with impeccable taste, formidable ancestors and an enviable confidence with colour. Set just ten miles south-west of Edinburgh, at the heart of a 3,000-hectare estate that unfurls into the Pentland Hills, it is grand, certainly, but never solemn: a house that feels warm, witty and gloriously alive, where history is worn lightly and enjoyed to the full.

That sense of assurance is the work of Charles Orchard, appointed to transform the estate’s grand stable block – home of the Clerk family since a devastating fire in 1899 destroyed the neighbouring Palladian mansion – into a 16-bedroom luxury retreat for the 21st century. The brief was refreshingly direct: work with the remarkable furniture, art and architecture already in place, but make it feel utterly different. Alongside interiors stylist Kate French, Charles responded with fearless layers of colour and texture – expressive wallpapers, sumptuous velvets and bold prints from British textile houses such as Linwood – pitching contemporary materials against centuries-old heirlooms to create rooms that feel joyful, characterful and anything but reverential.

A House with Layers of History

Designed in the 1760s alongside the original mansion house, the stable block was always an imposing presence. When fire took hold of the main house in 1899, the family had the presence of mind not only to rescue its irreplaceable artworks and antiques, but also much of its architectural fabric. ‘It was a slow fire that smouldered for days, so they were able to salvage features such as elaborate mouldings and pediments,’ Charles explains. ‘They turned what was already a very grand stable block into something even grander.’

A Confident Use of Colour

Colour, used with instinct and intent, is one of Charles’ defining signatures, and at Penicuik House he does not hold back. ‘I loved using deeply pigmented paint colours to bring real depth to the walls,’ he says. ‘They make the white architraves and mouldings really ping.’ The result is bold without ever tipping into excess: architecture is allowed to assert itself, while colour brings immediacy, warmth and a distinctly contemporary energy.

A Shared Design History

Textiles play an equally important role. Charles’s relationship with Linwood pre-dates the project, having previously collaborated with the brand on a collection for his eponymous furniture line, upholstering his designs in fabrics from Linwood’s Small Prints range. ‘We share an appreciation for things that are quintessentially British,’ he explains, ‘so their designs felt like a natural fit here.’ At Penicuik House, Linwood’s fabrics became a way not only to reinforce colour, but to introduce pattern, tactility and ease.

In the grand hallway, vivid, unapologetic green walls set off the classical architecture and provide a handsome backdrop to an impressive hang of family portraits. Tucked neatly into one corner is a Victorian chair upholstered in Linwood’s Kala – a lively printed linen inspired by an Uzbek block print – which neatly reinvents a much-loved family piece. Upholstered by the family’s own furniture maker, it signals the collaborative, quietly craft-led approach that runs throughout the house.

The Role of Velvet

Charles and Kate also turned to Linwood’s velvets to bring depth, comfort and tactility to key upholstered pieces. ‘We did a lot of research into velvets,’ Kate explains, ‘and Linwood’s stood out for their exceptional colour, their handle and their durability – all essential in a house designed very much to be lived in.’ In the reception hall, a pair of David Seyfried armchairs upholstered in Omega IV in Brick introduce a rich, resonant red that lifts the weight of the carved furniture and softens its formality.

That warmth carries through into the downstairs sitting room, where a pair of deep, generously proportioned David Seyfried sofas are upholstered in Moleskin III in Brick. Their russet hue plays beautifully against the room’s show-stopping backdrop: a 19th-century Japanese screen from the family’s collection, carefully adapted so it could be installed without sacrificing a single panel.

An art consultant as well as an interior designer and furniture maker, Charles was very much in his element working with the family’s extraordinary collection. ‘These pieces had been amassed over four centuries,’ he explains. ‘I was given permission not only to delve into the historic works, but also to introduce contemporary art and even borrow pieces from the National Museum of Scotland.’ The result is a considered, dynamic mix, where old masters and modern works sit cheek by jowl with an effortless sense of balance.

Art, Antiques and Contemporary Layers

This fluency between eras extends to the smaller spaces. On the upper level, the powder room offers a particularly sharp example: a grand gilded 17th-century mirror hangs above the clean lines of a teal lacquer console table, teamed with a pair of pouffes upholstered in a plain from Linwood and finished with punchy contrasting trims. It is a room that thrives on contrast – and on knowing exactly how far to push it.

Bedrooms Designed for Comfort and Character

The bedrooms – all sixteen of them – continue the same sense of playfulness, using pattern and texture to create schemes that feel individual, indulgent and deeply comfortable. Thick, interlined curtains bring warmth and a reassuring sense of generosity, while bold patterns and carefully judged colour ensure that no two rooms feel alike.

In the Aurora bedroom, a pair of inviting buttoned armchairs upholstered in Helter Skelter in Volcano set the tone, prompting a scheme of warm, smoky blues offset with rich terracotta reds – cocooning without ever feeling heavy. Curtains in Orta in Alabaster provide an essential note of calm, finished with a simple leading-edge trim in Orta in Bluestone. ‘We chose Orta for many of the curtains for its refined texture and incredible drape,’ says Kate. ‘It falls beautifully and its neutral tones bring balance to richly layered rooms.’

Elsewhere, Linwood’s weaves come into their own. Subtle geometrics are used to temper more exuberant prints, adding freshness and modernity. In the Montesina bedroom a chaise longue upholstered in Tanuki in Tango introduces a crisp graphic rhythm, deliberately set against a large-scale floral print on the headboard. It is a deft move – one that keeps the room lively rather than polite.

A House Designed to Be Lived In

What makes Penicuik House so compelling is not simply the beauty of its rooms, but the clarity of vision behind them. This is a historic family home brought confidently into the present – not by stripping away its past, but by engaging with it, boldly and intelligently.

Today, guests are invited not just to admire Penicuik House’s extraordinary history, but to live comfortably within it: to sink into velvet sofas beneath ancestral portraits, to draw heavy curtains against the Scottish dusk, and to inhabit rooms that feel as generous as they are storied. This is no house preserved in aspic, but a living, assured continuation – where heritage, hospitality, beauty and utility are woven together, quite literally, for the 21st century.

Photographs by Alexander Baxter