Eskdale Retreat — Winner of the BIID Interior Design Awards 2025
Eskdale Retreat, Cumbria
We’re delighted to share that Eskdale Retreat has been awarded Winner of the North & North West Region at the BIID Interior Design Awards 2025.
This project captures everything we value most at Keyhole Interiors — heritage, craftsmanship, and the quiet transformation that turns a building with history into a home with soul.
A House with History
Set within the wild beauty of the Eskdale Valley in the Lake District, this former vicarage has stood for centuries — its walls shaped by weather, worship, and the rhythm of Lakeland life. When we first visited, it was tired but full of promise. We saw not just what it was, but what it could become: a home that could breathe again.
Our brief was to create a distinctive Lakeland retreat — one that honoured the building’s story while embracing a refined, contemporary aesthetic. The result is a heritage renovation that feels rooted and timeless, yet quietly modern.
A Design Grounded in Place
The interiors draw directly from the surrounding Lake District landscape — a palette of moss, slate, peat and fern; materials that sit naturally in their setting. We layered tactility and tone to create warmth and depth, combining natural textures with bespoke oak joinery and handcrafted details.
Every decision was made with intention: considered but never contrived, luxurious but never loud. In places, the design softens into playfulness — a forest-print snug ceiling, a woodland-inspired bedroom — moments of surprise that lend the house its humanity.
Designed for Living Beautifully
Eskdale Retreat was created for gathering and restoration. It’s a home that can host sixteen guests with ease — where boot rooms are as important as cinema rooms, and where comfort, functionality, and beauty share equal weight.
Working closely with the architect and client, we developed a luxury residential interior that feels effortless to live in — thoughtful planning, concealed storage, double appliances for communal cooking, and layered lighting to shift the mood from morning to evening.
Sustainability was integral from the outset. The property now runs on air-source heat pumps and underfloor heating, with comprehensive insulation and energy-efficient glazing — proof that sustainable interior design and elegance can coexist seamlessly.
A Collective Effort
This project demanded sensitivity, patience, and precision. Over eighteen months we worked in close collaboration to ensure every detail — from the proportion of the joinery to the tone of the limewash — was refined until it felt just right.
As a small studio, we pour ourselves into every project completely. Eskdale Retreat is the kind of work that reminds us why we do what we do — design that respects its past, elevates the everyday, and quietly stands the test of time.
Recognition
“The judges were unanimous in their praise for Eskdale Retreat. They highlighted it as a clear standout, noting how it successfully balances contemporary design with thoughtful integration into the Cumbrian landscape. Every detail, from fixtures and fittings to colours, was carefully considered, making a comprehensive response to the brief.”
We’re proud to see Eskdale Retreat recognised on a national stage. But more than that, we’re proud of the story this home now tells — one of renewal, restraint, and design with integrity.
Eskdale Retreat, Cumbria
