This is part of the dazzling Roth Bar & Grill. Installation art is infused with life here at Hauser & Wirth’s fabulous new rural outpost in buzzy Somerset. Swiss gallerists Iwan and wife Manuela Wirth bought Durslade Farm in 2009 and have lovingly restored the various 18th c. farm buildings, turning them into a trendy gallery, delicious restaurant with live music on Friday nights, artist’s residence, guesthouse, educational center and dreamy garden. The coat closet is just as groovy as the bar, both designed by Bjorn and Oddur Roth, Icelandic son and grandson of artist Dieter Roth.
Landscape gardener Piet Oudolf (green genius behind NYC’s High Line) has planted over 25,000 perennials in the two acre meadow. The garden known as Oudolf Field is open year-round, but autumn isn’t so go now.
(Image courtesy Piet Oudolf and Hauser & Wirth)
Another reason to visit Hauser & Wirth’s country pad soon is that British sculptor Phyllida Barlow’s colourful, joyful show GIG ends November 2nd. It complements Barlow’s current commission in Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries.
Works by the gallery’s roster of bluechip artists come alive here. Subodh Gupta’s giant steel tiffin box used by Indians to carry their lunch beckons visitors to the restaurant nearby.
The Durslade Farmhouse, which sleeps 12, is done in a distressed bohemian style – full of vintage furniture sourced from local junk shops. Turner-Prize winning Martin Creed’s calming light show welcomes visitors.
(Image courtesy Hauser & Wirth)
However, the photograph above the bed is a bit less welcoming. Sweet dreams Goldilocks.
Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist recently completed a year-long residency at Durslade. She made an ethereal chandelier of locally salvaged glass objects. Rist will have a show here following Barlow.
The Wirth’s join a long list of hip creatives drawn to this bucolic countryside retreat two hours west of London. Stella McCartney, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Phoebe Philo, Mariella Frostrup, Daisy Lowe, Alice Temperley and Ben Goldsmith are just a few prize members of the herd.
So don’t dally. Take the fast train from London’s Paddington to Castle Cary, same stop as for Glastonbury.
Stop in at the community hub, the popular brasserie and hotel “At the Chapel“, owned by the equally as outspoken as she is petite, owner Catherine Butler and her husband Ahmed Sidki.
“When I came here from London in 2000, I loved it, “says Wilson. “But you couldn’t get a decent cup of coffee, a good loaf of bread. The people were great, like Notting Hill in the early days.”
So the couple bought the dilapidated former Congregational chapel and over time have turned it into an airy restaurant, artisan bakery, wine shop, event space and hotel, complete with a pizza oven.
The 8 rooms, ranging from £250 to £100 a night, all come with large king-size beds, Egyptian cotton linen, Wi-Fi and iPod docking stations. Plus each room has original art works on loan from the Swiss neighbours down the road.
September, 2014
