John Makepeace OBE, 68, is an internationally acclaimed furniture designer. Examples of his work can be found in many public collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Smithsonian Institution American Art Museum in Washington. Among his early students was Viscount Linley, the Queen’s nephew. He lives in Beaminster, Dorset, south-west England, with his second wife, Jenny. He is exhibiting examples of his furniture at the Alpha House Gallery, Sherborne, Dorset, until May 10.

How many homes do you have?

Just one, a grade II* listed house in Beaminster that I bought in 2001. The main part was built in 1730, on to the end of a 16th century cottage. The social history of the house is extraordinary. It was built by a family of lawyers and the attic rooms were clearly for servants. It’s got back and front stairs and there’s a quaint wire bell-pull system. My wife and I have lived in Beaminster since the early 1980s and we always liked this particular house. I gather 78 other people were also looking at it but, thankfully, our offer was the highest.

What changes have you made?

We had to underpin the whole structure and renew the plumbing and electrics . There are several places where we’ve introduced lights into lintels of windows or directly into shelves so you have light where you most need it.

I gather the dining room is something of a showcase.

Yes. Each time we develop a new chair I put the prototypes around my dining table. There are now 12 different designs, ranging from a straightforward but comfortable chair that would sell for £3,000, to ones that cost as much as £50,000.

What was your childhood home like?

When I was 10 my family moved from a big Edwardian house just outside Birmingham [in the UK’s Midlands] to a 14th century former priory in a village near Banbury, Oxfordshire. It was while living there that I first got into furnituremaking. My father was in the motor industry (he converted vehicles for soldiers who came back from war with only one hand) and I worked in his shed. It was hard to get timber after the war, so whenever a carpenter came to make repairs I would treasure the off-cuts.

What came next?

My career started straight from school – I began teaching furnituremaking in Birmingham. Then, in 1962, I bought a derelict barn in Farnborough [Hampshire, southern England] and turned it into a workshop and a home.

Did you make your own furniture then?

The cupboards were already built in to the rooms and the only furniture I recall making was a table. I started producing for Harrods at that time and subsequently put my designs into production for Habitat.

When did you move to Dorset?

In 1976. I needed more space in my workshop and I wanted to establish a furniture school with accommodation for the students. The estate agent mentioned Parnham, which had once been a manor and country club in the 1920s, then an army hospital in the [second world] war and a home for elderly mental patients, after which it fell into disuse. The idea was to keep the historic rooms for a private house and use the 18th century servant wings for student accommodation.

You opened it to public view as well. Was it hard to balance all the aspects of living there?

I had an extremely good London lawyer who helped me understand how to administer a clear division. What the public paid went into supporting the garden and the fabric. The Parnham Trust, set up to help people become professional furniture makers, generated its income from student fees and my wife and I lived in the old Tudor section of the house. Parnham was a grade I listed building and there were 82 rooms in total.

Was it a challenge renovating it?

Initially, yes – there were lino floors everywhere and the great hall was stacked up with hospital beds. It was a pretty depressing scene. The roof was the biggest expense.

Does small town life suit you?

When I first moved to the area it felt extraordinarily feudal, although it’s changed quite a lot since then. There were some delightful mannerisms – people even doffed their caps. In the 1980s I started developing another campus for the trust in Hooke Park and by 2001 all the students had moved there, which left us free to sell the house. We could have gone anywhere but we decided to stay in Beaminster.

Do you invite customers to visit and see your furniture?

Yes, our house is a gallery to some extent. But we only have people visit about twice a month and by appointment only.

What is your favourite room?

I like the upstairs library, which is a wonderful place for studying and pondering. But the kitchen really is the centre of the house. It has a table that seats 12, which is especially good when our children and grandchildren visit.