The Artist Residence group to open fourth hotel

The Artist Residence hotel group, from Charlotte and Justin Salisbury, is to open its fourth hotel, The Mason Arms, in South Leigh, Oxfordshire, in February/March.

The group’s fourth property will be a pub restaurant with rooms, and will initially offer five en-suite bedrooms in an original thatched farmhouse. Seven more en-suite bedrooms are expected to open later in 2017 in the attached cottage, outbuildings and stables.

The property’s restoration and redesign will highlight many of the original features, including flagstone flooring, dark oak panelling, beams, and exposed stone and brick. Pieces from local auction houses and reclamation yards will also form part of the design.

There will also be traditional William Morris wallpaper, signature Artist Residence ‘pops of colour’, and a curated collection of artwork – including a bespoke set from The Connor Brothers aiming to highlight the pub’s history.

The property was previously owned for 18 years by a local character named Mr Stonhill, who was known as eccentric thanks to his refusal to accept the smoking ban law, and setting up a helipad on the roof of the building.

Commenting on the new project, the Salisburys said: "We are extremely excited to be able to share our latest project with you. We’re off to the countryside to restore an old pub to its former glory." 

The group’s other properties comprise the 23-bedroom Artist Residence in Brighton, which opened in 2008, and was so-called partly because of Justin Salisbury’s idea to invite local artists to decorate rooms in return for accommodation.

This was followed by a 13-bedroom, four-apartment opening in Cornwall in 2010, and a 10-bedroom, two-suite, eight ‘house room’ former derelict pub in London in 2014.

Each property aims to offer its own character, influenced by its individual location and local design.