When Donna Ida Thornton celebrated her half-century last year, it marked a turning point in her life. "Everything leading up to this was my training ground, and now I'm executing everything I learnt in the first 50 years," the Australian fashion designer tellsas she and her husband Robert Walton open the doors to their magnificent 16th-century manor house in Devon.
The 16-bedroom residence, which features a jungle-inspired space named Palm Court, a film room and even a cosy tea-and-toast space, sits in ten acres of land and is home to a menagerie of animals including chickens, guinea fowl and geese – not to mention Donna and Robert's eight dogs...The 16-bedroom residence features a jungle-inspired space named Palm Court
"It's insane, but fashion did go through that period when nobody wanted anything old. Thank God, all those original features were still there – we just had to reveal them. We finished work in September 2023 and had our first guests soon after."The pair underwent a multimillion-pound restoration of the beautiful grade II-listed Jacobean manor house
"We have 30 birds, including ten geese, which we rescued from a farmer who was going to sell them for Christmas, as well as ducks, chickens that produce our eggs, guinea fowl, pheasants, partridges..."Donna: "And we have four lovebirds who live in Palm Court. They're called Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Jodie Kidd. Oh, and we'd like a couple of donkeys!"Donna: "They’re on the same floor as us, so they get to be with Mummy and Daddy.