A fantastical Somerset rectory, restored by a descendant of the Fry chocolate dynasty

The dining room; the table was bought from Downside School, who were selling six of them, and the surrounding chairs are from Oka. The gold, rococo-esque console at the end of the room was inherited from Cosmo’s father. On the table are multiples of Mary Martin’s Rotation, produced for Jeremy Fry’s Unlimited series.

Mark Anthony Fox

Cosmo credits his late wife, the fashion editor Lulu Anderson, with much of the current décor – and, ten years ago, with having moved the kitchen to the south side of the house and papered it with an Orla Kiely pattern. Modifications continue: five years ago, the exterior render was replaced, and Cosmo has ‘finally almost conquered’ a long-term leak in a first-floor bedroom, which has necessitated replacing the Colefax & Fowler ‘Seraphina’ wallpaper more often than he would have liked. ‘I’m also, now that I’m living here alone again, gradually returning the palette to the more neutral tones I instilled in my twenties,’ he continues, explaining that when it comes to colour, ‘I’m picture-led.’

A closer view of the multiples of Mary Martin’s Rotation that, when we visited, Cosmo was cleaning ready for exhibition at the London Original Print Fair in May

Mark Anthony Fox

Those pictures line every wall. There are a significant number of paintings by Cosmo’s cousin, the acclaimed artist Anthony Fry, who was a friend and contemporary of Craigie Aitchison and Euan Uglow, and most of whose works Cosmo framed. There are a few landscapes by another cousin, the influential Bloomsbury Group artist, writer and curator Roger Fry (subject of a new biography, and the current exhibition at the Museum of Somerset.) And Cosmo also collects J.S. Fry & Sons packaging and products, an inherited accumulation that he has enthusiastically built on, ‘initially through car boot sales, now it’s eBay.’

Alongside are editions of sculptures and light pieces from the Unlimited series of artworks that Cosmo’s father initiated in the 1960s. Developed as a non-profit antidote to the exclusivity of the art world – and the traditionally limited nature of print runs – Jeremy Fry set up a production line for kinetic-themed works by several important international artists of the day. Kiboshed after only 18 months by the sudden introduction of a punitive tax, the editions are now significantly rarer than they were intended to be – though Cosmo retains a small quantity. When we visit, the dining room table is covered in multiples of Mary Martin’s Rotation, which he is cleaning, ready for exhibition and sale at the London Original Print Fair in May.

Bucky, an African Grey parrot, once belonged to the film director Tony Richardson, and lived in LA. It was too hot for her there, so she moved to Tony’s house in St. Tropez, and when he died, Cosmo’s father, Jeremy Fry, inherited her. Now she lives with Cosmo, who has built her an aviary in the garden.

Mark Anthony Fox

The view through the dining room into the kitchen, whose walls are papered in an Orla Kiely pattern, and most of whose cabinets come from Homebase. The open shelves are Formica, and made by Cosmo

Mark Anthony Fox

Cosmo closed his Formica company in 2015 – though he still makes Formica furniture to commission and does framing; ‘I’ve framed probably 75% of what’s in this house,’ he says. He also produces a line of plate racks which originated from an Art Nouveau-esque set designed by his father and French architect Didier Bertrand. Cosmo added further styles – Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts - commissioned from set designer Carl Toms, and they can, alternatively, come as bookshelves. But his chief focus now is gardening, ‘which for at least three of the decades I lived here, didn’t interest me at all.’

Mark Anthony Fox

It began with his own garden, during lockdown. Then, two years ago, he and his girlfriend, American singer songwriter Diane Birch, took on the lease of the famous Walled Garden at Mells. Open from the beginning of April to the end of September, there is a plant nursery and a café, for which the coming harvest of wild garlic will presently be turned into pesto. But Cosmo and Diane are adding to the existing footprint and have spent the winter planting the ‘Sacred Garden’, inspired by monastic healing gardens. There is a planned programme of concerts that will take place within it, and ‘it’s the most rewarding pursuit I’ve embarked on in years,’ recounts Cosmo. As he muses on the evolution of the house, what rings out is the extraordinary capacity he has found for change to co-exist with constancy.

The drawing room – the only room untouched by the fire of the 1930s – with a David Hicks rug on the floor, and an ark on the end table by Julian Chichester.

Mark Anthony Fox