When the Chatsworth Estate approached Brouns & Co six summers ago, they faced several challenges.
The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth House – often chosen as Britain’s favourite stately home – sits within 12,000 acres of gardens, parkland and farmland.
It is not just the Duke of Devonshire who calls Chatsworth home, within the estate are 150 cottages and other dwellings.
Chatsworth Estate wanted to find a linseed paint supplier that could colour-match its signature ‘Chatsworth Blue’ used on buildings across the estate.
The blue paint provided by their previous supplier had always lost its colour and turned grey over time, meaning that it had to be regularly reapplied.
The paint didn’t just have to be the correct colour, it had to be environmentally friendly and long-lasting too.
Brouns & Co made sure that it was made using the highest possible quality pigments which don’t bleach in sunlight.
Its paint is now used in all maintenance across the estate and the partnership has delivered many benefits according to Malcolm Hulland, Buildings Contracts Manager at Chatsworth Estate.
“Brouns & Co linseed paint is tremendously easy to use and very cost effective; it reduces our maintenance cycle, application time in labour and cost in joinery repairs,” he said.
Michiel Brouns, managing director of Brouns & Co, said that linseed paint has a long history and its many benefits are being appreciated again today.
“We always say that linseed oil paint will transform the way you paint. It lasts pretty much forever without needing to be reapplied, and doesn’t flake or peel. It’s environmentally friendly, doesn’t have a strong smell, dries in 24 hours, and is extremely cost-effective. It doesn’t even need primers or undercoats. Plus, it comes in a rich palette of beautiful colours.”
In Sweden, Denmark and many other parts of Europe, there’s a long tradition of painting the interiors and exteriors of buildings with linseed oil paint. Original coats of linseed paint have survived perfectly well on houses which are well over 500 years old.
Michiel Brouns, who is the UK’s leading expert on the use of linseed paint for historic and timber buildings, said: “Linseed oil paint can be applied to any surface, including wood, masonry, plaster and metal. It’s especially popular for exteriors because it’s so durable and strong, and doesn’t need reapplying after a few years.
“Linseed oil paint really does protect against all weathers: once painted, wood won’t rot, iron won’t rust, and plaster won’t crumble. It has fantastic wicking properties, permitting evaporation of moisture instead of trapping it under an impermeable film which you get with a standard petrochemical paint.”
Michiel said that there is a common misconception that linseed paint is expensive.
“Far from it. Not only is a tin of linseed paint fairly inexpensive, especially compared to some of the heritage paint brands in the UK, but it’s a thin paint, so you’ll cover anything from 15 to 22 square metres per litre, depending on the material you’re painting.
“We don’t know of any other paint which offers such cost-effective coverage. There’s less waste, because the same tin of paint will paint any surface – and on top of all that, you don’t need to repaint every few years!”
He added: “It has been great to see the benefits of using our paint on the Chatsworth Estate. The time that they don’t have to spend on constant repairs they can put into more productive things – like their own range of furniture made on the estate!”