Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2023 i 25 Beautiful Homes

The Art of Reinvention is the name of our feature on Faye and Gary Mortimer’s beautiful house (p24). And REINVENTION is what so many projects are all about, from decorating a guest room to a full-blown extension. Faye and Gary told us how they wanted to step out of their COMFORT ZONE to create EXCITING schemes – a concept that will be familiar to many of you. For Gina and Mark Mills, it was when their children had flown the nest that they took the opportunity to transform their Victorian townhouse with a NEW layout that suits their new life (p76). Anna and John Ferguson also had great vision when faced with refurbishing a dilapidated terrace (p127). The results are impressive. If you’ve reinvented your home, please do get in…

Bohemian elegance is how art-historian Stephanie Souroujon sums up the renovated 1970s London home that she shares with her toddler Leo. With its natural materials, including washed linen throws and rattan dining chairs, plus some unexpected touches, such as playful red tapware and cupboards fronted with marbled paper, the house offers a fresh take on 1970s style. ‘When I came across the property, its interiors hadn’t been touched in 40 years, so I knew we had some work to do,’ says Stephanie, who was raised in Mexico City. ‘But it’s wider than an average Victorian terrace and I liked its original elements, including finger parquet flooring and a wall-hung teak sideboard in the sitting room.’ The biggest challenge was to rework an unintuitive layout that saw the original kitchen accessed…

no. 21 HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Victorian terraced house ROOMS Sitting room, playroom, kitchen-diner, cloakroom, study, four bedrooms (one en suite), two bathrooms LOCATION Southwest London I think an appreciation of art, colour and design is in my DNA,’ says John Ferguson, who grew up in Scotland in a beautiful house with interiors influenced by the Swedish artist Carl Larsson. ‘My grandparents also lived near Dundee and had many ties to local artists,’ explains John. He has now put that appreciation to work in the characterful home he shares with his wife Anna, and their three daughters, Audrey May, eight, Margaux, six, and Dittany, one. When the couple found their house in 2015, it was in quite a dilapidated state. The washing machine and tumble dryer were in the old…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY New-build detached house ROOMS Entrance hall, sitting room, kitchen/living area/orangery dining area, utility room, cloakroom, boot room, playroom, gallery landing, three bedrooms (one en suite), three bathrooms, two walk-in wardrobes LOCATION Essex ‘OUR FAVOURITE ITEM IS THE CUSTOM-MADE DINING TABLE DESIGNED TO FIT THE PROPORTIONS OF THE ORANGERY’ Michael and Iyasha Simpson are a couple for whom contradicting terms have become a fact of life. ‘Iyasha is Mauritian and it’s not in her culture to move often whereas I love it. If it were up to me, we’d move every couple of years – it comes with the territory of my profession,’ Michael says. While Iyasha runs her own beauty business, Michael has a string of estate agents and a property development business, meaning he’s always…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A five-bedroom, four-storey Victorian villa ROOMS Sitting room, drawing room, study, kitchen/dining room/snug, laundry room, five bedrooms (one en suite), two bathrooms LOCATION Southwest London Time and space were key factors when Martha Riley, a professional violinist and music teacher, and her husband Steven were looking for a home in southwest London for their blended family. ‘Steven and I had been renting a large property near Wandsworth Common, our first home together with our six children from our previous marriages,’ explains Martha. ‘We loved the area and were keen to put down roots, but with only six months left on our lease, time was of the essence.’ Steven had seen a Victorian villa online, which had been in the same family for 30 years, but it…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY 1950s fisherman’s cottage ROOMS Great room with sitting, dining and additional seating area, kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms. Lower level with second sitting room, bedroom and bathroom LOCATION Long Island, New York HOW DID YOU FIND THIS HOUSE? I started my career in the Hamptons and I’d been keeping my eye on this area for years. When I heard that this 1950s fisherman’s cottage was available I jumped at the chance to own it. It wasn’t a simple fix but the location is extremely special. WHAT WAS THE STARTING POINT FOR THE NEW LOOK? I wanted the home to feel modern, calming and sharp but also connected to the place so I designed it with the intention of bringing the outside in. I was inspired by…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A 1920s-era family home ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen/dining area, dining room, study, playroom, four bedrooms (one en suite) bathroom LOCATION New York suburbs ‘In neutral schemes it’s nice to introduce unexpected elements – like the mural wallpaper in the dining room’ HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? The house is in an affluent suburb of New York City and there are plenty of interior designers around here, so competition can be fierce. These clients actually found us online – they loved our message about family-friendly design and delivering a liveable luxury look. As soon as we met them we knew it would be a good fit. WHAT CONDITION WAS THE HOUSE IN? It was a typical Colonial home, built in the 1920s…

no. 13 HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Victorian townhouse ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner, TV room, playroom, utility room, cloakroom, five bedrooms (three en suite), dressing room, three bathrooms LOCATION West London ‘THE WALLS HAVE A CLAY PLASTER FINISH THAT BOUNCES LIGHT AROUND AND HAS A CALMING SOFTNESS’ Moving from a loft apartment in New York to a Victorian house in London meant a big change in lifestyle for Tina Orlando and Ian Waring, and their two young children. ‘We’d spent eight years stateside – we must have loved it as we moved there only intending to stay for two years,’ says Tina. When looking for a new home in the UK, the couple came across a narrow five-storey Victorian house in Chelsea but they had to call on all their imagination…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Edwardian semi-detached house ROOMS Living room, den, kitchen-diner, utility room, cloakroom, four bedrooms (one en suite), two bathrooms LOCATION North London When Jessica and Simon decided to ‘improve, not move’, they enlisted help. ‘We wanted to extend our home and create more space for our family, but we wanted it to be right,’ says Jessica. When the pair bought their Edwardian home 17 years earlier, one of their priorities was to conserve its features. ‘We’d spent a lot of time restoring the fireplaces, cornicing, architraves and parquet flooring,’ says Jessica. Simon and Jessica commissioned architect Andrew Mulroy to come up with a design. ‘Most extensions are square-shaped and we were hoping for something more inventive,’ says Jessica. ‘We wanted to create more space at the rear,…

PASTEL CHIC The latest designs feature pieces in the prettiest shades - perfect for giving your home a sense of playfulness and cheer RUSTIC CHARM Combining the best of country and vintage elements, a modern take on a homespun look brings warmth, character and a hint of something quirky BLACK & WHITE This sophisticated colour combination is an enduring classic, successfully eschewing changing trends with its timeless, elegant appeal…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Cottage dating from the 1750s with an oak-frame extension that was added in 2002 ROOMS Open-plan kitchen/dining/living room, hall/music room, sitting room, boot room, utility room, cloakroom, four bedrooms (one with dressing area and en suite shower room), bathroom LOCATION Suffolk When one partner craves a character home with cosy rooms and old beams and the other prefers bright, open spaces you might think that one person is going to have to give in; that was the concern of floral designer Alexandra Grace (@alexandragraceflowers/alexandragraceflowers.co.uk) and her husband Mark when they started house-hunting eight years ago. ‘We were living in a lovely little cottage,’ says Ali, as she likes to be known, ‘but needed more space indoors and out for our daughters, Matilda, 15, and Scarlett, 12,…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Gothic Revival terraced house ROOMS Sitting room, dining room, snug, TV room, bar, study, kitchen, utility room, cloakroom, three bedrooms (two en suite), bathroom LOCATION North London ‘Lighting is so important – we have pendants, table lamps, floor lamps and wall lights to ensure a layered effect’ Big altertions were on the cards for this five-storey Gothic Revival terraced house, which is on a square in north London, when Rocket St-James and his partner, Jerald, purchased it. ‘We had missed out on a house across the square in which the owners had added French doors leading to the garden and roof lights on the top level, so we told ourselves that we would do our own version of that with this house,’ recounts Rocket. What the…

no. 20 HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A converted granary barn, built in the early 19th century ROOMS Sitting room, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms, bathroom, plus a detached one-bedroom annexe for friends and Airbnb guests LOCATION Lechlade, Gloucestershire Julie and Alick Kitchin nearly didn’t see the converted granary barn they now call home. Running late and halfway through a busy day of viewings, they were the last to see the house. They had decided to move back to the south from Edinburgh when Alick retired, and after looking everywhere from Somerset to the Cotswolds and the New Forest, they thought the barn could be what they were looking for. Built in the early 19th century, it had stood derelict for many years until a developer converted it and when the…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Originally a 1950s two bedroom bungalow, the property was previously extended into a four bedroom contemporary detached home ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner, cloakroom, four bedrooms (one en suite), two bathrooms LOCATION Sydney, Australia ‘I love that the architect created a warm family space by placing a dividing wall between the dining and living areas’ When interior designer Leah Henricks and her husband Blake began looking around at property, buying a fully renovated house was the last thing on their minds. ‘We were about to start building a house from scratch,’ explains Leah, ‘but thought we should take a look at the market to understand what we’d get if we bought instead.’ Then they came across a property that totally upended their plans. ‘The minute we stepped…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Renovated bungalow LOCATION Melbourne, Australia ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner, snug, office, laundry room, boot room, cloakroom, four bedrooms (one en suite), playroom, dressing room, bathroom Michelle and David Hart had long admired the Bayside area of Melbourne in Australia, just 10 minutes’ drive from where they were living, so when a house in that area came up for sale, they were quick to take their chance. It was a bungalow situated close to the beach and though it was in definite need of some TLC, being an interior designer, Michelle wasn’t fazed by the prospect. The couple wanted to enlarge the modest-sized property to give themselves and their two children more space, so they extended to the rear as well as upwards, doubling the size of…