Indholdsfortegnelse for June 2019 i 25 Beautiful Homes

Most of us hanker for more time in nature. We dream of homes in the rolling hills, save our pennies for out-of-town trips, and make a beeline for any slice of greenery the moment the sun peeks out from behind the clouds (or the rain stops!). That feeling of being in the great outdoors can be quite unbeatable. But how to recreate that sense of freshness at home? With this question in mind, our focus for this issue is on homes that offer ideas for connecting inside and out. We also wanted to cover how to bring indoor style outside and how to create an outdoor feel inside. Our cover story, Sarah and Andrew Charlesworth’s Kent home, strikes all of these notes (page 56). Its focal point is the conservatory;…

Buying their first home together wasn’t something that Hayley Foster and husband Mike felt they could take their time over. ‘We only house hunted for a day!’ says Hayley. ‘The minute I saw this property I adored the high ceilings. In fact, I was so distracted by them, I didn’t look round properly. We went with our gut instincts and put in an offer.’ To their delight, the couple secured the Victorian terrace and, in 2014, moved in. ‘We were so lucky there weren’t any nasty surprises waiting for us,’ says Hayley. ‘In terms of the work that needed doing, we knew we wanted to put some character back in, convert the loft and add a kitchen extension. But the house was basically in good condition, just a bit scuffed…

Back in 2016, when Charlotte Cox and Francis Vidal wanted to put down roots in a larger property, they did not expect to end up in southwest London. ‘We were living in King’s Cross and wanted a proper house with a garden in an area that was a bit greener, with less hustle and bustle, and were initially looking in the north of the city,’ says Charlotte. However, they found they could get more for their money by searching south of the river. ‘A lot of our friends were moving south and we loved this particular area’ says Charlotte. ‘It has a farmer’s market on a Sunday and really nice little independent shops. It feels like you’re leaving London when you walk out of the station.’ Charlotte is rather less…

After interior stylist Lisa Good and her husband Matthew moved into a diminutive period property in Kent, space soon became an issue. First their son Oliver, now seven, came along, followed by daughter Lola, five. ‘We began looking for a bigger house but wanted a project that we could add value to,’ says Lisa. ‘We initially thought we’d renovate a house and live there for a couple of years before moving on, but we loved what we found so much that we decided to stay here.’ The house in question is a Grade-II listed, six-bedroom farmhouse and when the couple viewed it they were won over by its proportions. ‘We put in an offer, which the owner accepted with the proviso that we could exchange within six weeks,’ says Lisa.…

When Fanny Moizant moved from Paris to London for work in 2012, renting rather than buying a property was the logical step for the internet entrepreneur whose industry thrives on agility and the ability to move to another country at short notice. ‘The internet is making us all global citizens, able to work wherever we like,’ says Fanny, who relocated from France with her husband Michael and daughters, Louise, then nine, and Jeanne, eight. After a brief search, Fanny knew she had found the right house – a spacious Victorian terraced house in north London. ‘The yellow front door and wisteria both captured my imagination,’ she says. ‘Michael and I were also drawn to the period details, like the cornicing and the fireplace. They bring a sense of history to…

As soon as Tanja and Alexander Cronqvist laid eyes on a handsome but rundown period villa just a few kilometres north of Stockholm, they knew it was ripe for renovation. And yet this enterprising couple resisted the idea of knocking down walls as soon as they moved in. Instead they decided to quietly observe the flow of the house, making small adjustments here and there to begin restoring its original elegance. Adopting their ‘little by little’ approach has paid off handsomely because their home has now been nurtured room by room and the major refurbishment they planned is no longer pressing. ‘From the start, we could see the building had great bones,’ says Tanja, a management consultant and interior designer. ‘Much of its elegance was hidden behind Seventies-style additions, such…

Taking on a major renovation with two young children and a baby was a brave move for Claire Fox and her husband, Mike. ‘We saw this house and knew that we could totally transform it,’ says Claire. ‘It’s our third big project, and it’s something that I love doing.’ So, in 2017, while on maternity leave from her job as a business director, Claire began to manage the build. The house was a warren of tiny rooms on different levels when the couple first viewed it. ‘There were lots of issues to address,’ says Claire. ‘There was a tiny galley kitchen that could only fit one person, and the basement was divided into two bedrooms, one of them really small and dark. And whoever lived here previously had been a…

When Sophie de Bajac’s husband, Pierre, asked her to view a former hunting lodge on a large estate in the Périgord region of France, she was dubious about the idea. ‘I wasn’t sure that we needed a house with so much land, but the moment I saw it, I was under its spell,’ she says. ‘The location is really special, as is the house itself, although at the time it was partly overgrown and in a poor state.’ The couple also own a flat in Bordeaux, an hour’s drive away, and for many years they had owned a seaside villa in Cap Ferret. ‘We were getting tired of the summer crowds and my husband craved peace and quiet,’ says Sophie. ‘We both love walking and we wanted a place where…

Ottawa Barn once belonged to Ben Arthur’s father, Philip, as part of the farm he owned. When Ben and his wife Hilary took over the property in 2000, it was just bricks, roof and a dirt floor. ‘It had been a feed storage barn where animals were kept over winter, and there were two L-shaped extensions with mangers,’ says Hilary. ‘At first, our children had to sleep in what is now the pantry while we got on with the conversion – and that took over four years! ‘I had a wish list – a big kitchen, utility room, laundry room – but it was tricky to carve up the space,’ she says. However, if there were ever an exemplary plan for how to make the most of barn living, this…

Sarah Charlesworth and her husband Andrew were living in a 400-year-old listed cottage when they decided it was time for a move. ‘Our friends and family were frequently coming to stay, and we simply needed more space,’ says Sarah. The first step was to compile their list of must-haves. The couple agreed that they didn’t want a new build, and were seeking a spacious barn conversion, preferably one with an open outlook, which proved easier said than done. ‘Trying to find a property with both views and open spaces turned out to be very difficult,’ says Sarah. ‘We saw lots of barns, but they were all hemmed in by other buildings, and for us, a sense of space really was key.’ In the end, Sarah and Andrew found their present…

The short reign of Queen Anne, at the beginning of the 18th century, produced some of England’s most beautiful houses – balanced and symmetrical with a wonderful lightness and elegance. Such period gems do not come on to the market often, so when Claire and Mark Batten saw the estate-agent’s details of one such property, they had no hesitation in making an appointment to view. ‘We had been looking for a house for a while,’ explains Claire. ‘We were living in London but, as our boys were growing, we reached a point where we needed more space. Kent is easily commutable to London, so the good houses all get snapped up as soon as they come on to the market. We were almost at the point of employing a property…

When Avril and Paul Fairley decided to move back to the UK after six years living in Australia, finding the right property proved tricky. ‘Eventually Paul found a small developer who was building two properties on the outskirts of Newcastle and he paid a visit while on business in the UK,’ says Avril. ‘Luckily it was at an early stage, so we worked with the builder to make some bespoke changes.’ Although Paul was able to check on progress during his business trips, Avril was still in Australia with their daughters, Megan, now 19, and Anna, 15, so she only saw the property via video calls. ‘It was difficult as I was making decisions on layout without having been in the house,’ she says. The adaptations included widening the openings…

Having decided to swap London for a more relaxed family life by the sea, Siobhan O’Leary was clear about one thing – she did not want to take on another project. ‘We’d already done up two houses and this time we just wanted to move in and start living,’ says Siobhan. So her heart didn’t exactly leap for joy when she and her husband Jim first viewed a semi-detached house in Hove. ‘We really didn’t like it,’ she says. ‘The owner had divided it up, creating a flat downstairs, while upstairs had been carved into bedsits with a shared kitchen. It needed a lot of work.’ But after seeing lots of other properties in the area, the couple began to see the creative possibilities. ‘We realised we’d want to change…

Luxury doesn’t have to be expensive,’ says interiors specialist Nat Wheeler. ‘Simply add a splash of creativity, think outside the box, and you can create the most stylish-looking home without breaking the bank.’ Her theory was most certainly put to the test when she took on a refurbishment project that involved an unloved bungalow and a tight budget. ‘Renovation is my passion,’ says Nat, who has revamped several properties, and also runs homeware brand Norsu Home. ‘I lie awake at night dreaming of everything from lights to linens, and come the morning, I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get started.’ Nat and her husband, Dan, plus their children, Annabel, now seven, and Harvey, four, found this classic bungalow just a block away from their previous home in…

Dee Jeffery likes nothing better than to turn a wreck into a chic home. There are at least 11 projects in her portfolio and this, her latest, she says is unique. ‘Having always lived in houses, I’d never been confined to the ground floor, so this was a challenge,’ she says. The flat she found was in a peaceful street in south London. The interior had potential for two bedrooms, a large living area and a study and, with only one of her daughters, Gabrielle, 24, still living at home, it was all Dee needed. ‘The garden was extra long,’ she says, ‘so I also planned to build a guest suite at the far end.’ For its previous use as student digs, however, the flat had been divided into a…

Fiona Harkin-Wood and her husband Sam were living in a flat in London when they decided they needed more space. Unfortunately, moving up the property ladder in the capital wasn’t viable. ‘We visited Rye one summer and felt at home there,’ says Fiona, who then spotted an Arts and Crafts property for sale, designed by architect Horace Field and once owned by members of the Tate family, of Tate & Lyle. ‘I came to see it with my mum and before I had even been upstairs, I knew I wanted to live in it,’ she says. The purchase went through smoothly in 2014. ‘We lived in the house for a year before we did anything to it,’ says Fiona. ‘The kitchen had strip lights, the wiring was all over the…

The Provençal countryside, with its olive groves, pine forests and rocky outcrops, was so stunning that as David and Ann Price drove down the dirt track towards a converted goat shed, they both said, ‘We’ll buy it – it doesn’t matter what it’s like, we’ll fix it.’ The property turned out to offer far more opportunities than they could ever have imagined. ‘The previous owner had converted it in the early Seventies,’ says David, an architect and interior designer. It was a long, U-shaped, ranch-style construction, with a courtyard in the middle, flanked by stables and other accommodation (including a gite d’étape for guests arriving on horseback). All the openings faced inwards, ignoring the views. ‘We knew immediately that we had to open it up to the surrounding landscape,’ says…

They say good things are worth waiting for, and that is certainly the case when it comes to Céline Michaux’s village home. Located close to the thriving city of Lyon, it offers the ideal combination of country and city living, and though a new build, it has many elements of the traditional French bastide. However, Céline and her husband Franck spent more than a decade renting before moving here, and took three years looking for the perfect plot on which to build. ‘We viewed several places but there were so many compromises to be made,’ reflects Céline. ‘Then we saw the ideal plot and we decided to take the plunge and build from scratch. We didn’t need a big home; instead we chose to create a property that was both…

Finding a location that the whole family could call home brought Rachel Lyle, her partner Andrew Sherlock, and their four children to a secluded, rural setting in the Cotswolds. ‘When we first met I was living in Scotland with my three children, Tilly, now 19, Jack, 18, and Luca, 11, while Andrew lived in London,’ says Rachel. ‘Our aim was to find a base suitable for us all and we chose Oxfordshire as Andrew knew the area well.’ Fortuitously, the family heard of a large farmhouse available to rent. ‘We were so pleased to find the property, that we grasped the opportunity,’ explains Rachel. ‘And we were able to place the children in a local primary school.’ In 2010 after daughter Amber was born, the couple set about looking for…

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