It’s the hottest day of the year so far in the idyllic village of Little Barrington in , and designer Clare Hornby greets me, dressed in a white V-neck shirt, trousers and white trainers. Tall and slim, with her dark hair scraped back from her face and unlined, glowing skin that belies her 52 years, she has a quiet charm and an understated glamour. Her home, which she shares with Johnny, her husband of 18 years, and their two daughters, Maddy, 17, and Grace, 16, is an elegant, sprawling Cotswolds mansion, with stone pillars and box balls in the entrance.
Cow parsley and cedar of Lebanon trees grow at the front of the , and the River Windrush flows through the bottom of the garden. It’s half-term and the house is a hive of activity. Johnny, 54, who has three more children from a previous marriage, wanders into the kitchen between Zoom calls.
He is animated and charming, and chats non-stop as he tells me that he’s relieved not to have done much international over the past year (he is the founder of marketing and PR holdings company The&Partnership). His daughter Maddy, tall and blonde, appears from upstairs to get some breakfast. Alan the dachshund and Maple the working cocker spaniel scamper underfoot as Johnny takes me proudly to a nearby field to introduce me to his five-week-old foal, Jemima.
He adores horses. More are being schooled in the outdoor ring and others are being ridden out on a hack. In the house, horse portraits line the hallway, including a huge framed p.