Step down into the basement of this historic Bath townhouse and find a kitchen where past and present coexist with ease. The design team from deVOL, working with Banjo Beale, has created a space that honours the home’s original character while adding practical, contemporary features. The result is a kitchen that feels both rooted in history and fully suited to modern living.
Light filters through the original wavy Georgian glass panes, casting a soft, diffuse glow across the room and enhancing the tranquil atmosphere. The basement possesses what the designers describe as a “secretive beauty”: a calm, sheltered environment hidden beneath the city’s bustle. Thick, honey-coloured stone walls, tucked-away nooks and the subtle irregularities of aged materials all contribute to a quietly charming, lived-in quality.
Instead of stripping the space back and rebuilding from scratch, the design team deliberately preserved the original woodwork, panelling, doors and cabinetry. This approach retains the home’s tangible history and safeguards the details that make the room unique. Keeping these elements in place allows the kitchen to feel authentic—more like a well-kept time capsule than a newly installed set of surfaces.
Classic deVOL cabinetry was a natural fit for the setting. The Georgian-inspired detailing and straightforward, durable construction echo the solidity of the stone walls and complement the room’s original features. The cabinets are finished in the brand’s distinctive Printer’s Black, a muted, deep tone that reads as both timeless and contemporary. Bespoke copper countertops provide warmth and subtle sheen, introducing an elegant contrast to the darker cabinetry and the stone’s honey tones.
Functionality is woven through the design as carefully as aesthetics. A Lacanche range cooker offers robust cooking performance suited to serious home cooking, while deVOL brass rails and heirloom-style lighting fixtures bring practical convenience and character. These contemporary additions provide the everyday reliability expected in a modern kitchen while remaining sympathetic to the room’s historic atmosphere.
The overall palette is restrained, relying on texture and materiality rather than bright colours. Printer’s Black cabinetry, polished copper worktops and warm brass accents create a cohesive scheme that feels considered and calm. Natural light, the soft patina of aged stone and the tactile appeal of reclaimed woodwork all work together to form an inviting environment where cooking, dining and conversation feel natural and unhurried.
By balancing preservation with careful contemporary interventions, the design team has ensured the kitchen will be both beautiful and usable for years to come. Rather than erasing the house’s past, the scheme celebrates it—allowing original features to remain at the heart of a renewed, functional space. The result is a basement kitchen that feels quietly elegant, deeply authentic and perfectly suited to the life of the townhouse.
Images courtesy of deVOL