Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2023 i 25 Beautiful Homes

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Converted cottage, built circa 1930 ROOMS Sitting room, dining room, kitchen, garden/TV room, utility room, cloakroom, boot room, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, attic playroom LOCATION New Forest Nestled within eight acres of leafy woodland gardens in the heart of the New Forest sits the stunning converted cottage of Emilia Amodio and Tom Schroeder. The couple, who have three young children, bought the home as a retreat from the bustle of London life. ‘Everyone is so busy these days and spending quality time with each other at weekends was a big motivation for finding this home,’ says Emilia. ‘We wanted a place to run away to at weekends – where our children could play freely outdoors.’ While the exterior of their new home is every bit what…

no. 6SITTING ROOM FOCUS PROJECT DETAILS ARCHITECT Elina Siltanen-Sjöberg of Interiors by ESS PROPERTY Apartment in a mansion block, built in 1911 WORK Full house redesign LOCATION Helsinki, Finland Designer Elina Siltanen-Sjöberg was asked to redesign this sitting room as part of a whole apartment renovation – the concept for the work was that of a grand summer home that keeps things contemporary. 1 TURNING ON THE CHARM ‘This sitting room belongs to a family of five who spend most of the year in Boston, USA, but regularly return to Helsinki to spend extended holidays with their family here,’ Elina explains. ‘We wanted to introduce a summery feeling with colour, pattern and elements of traditional interior design, symmetry and architectural details.’ 2 PRETTY PALETTE ‘The whole apartment was a white…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Grade II-listed Regency mid-terrace townhouse ROOMS Front and rear sitting rooms, kitchen-diner, utility room, three bedrooms, two bathrooms LOCATION Brighton ‘‘THE PATIO WAS DUG OUT AND LOWERED SO IT IS NOW LEVEL WITH THE KITCHEN AND DINING SPACE, WHICH IS GREAT FOR ENTERTAINING’ HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? The clients saw my work and thought I could help them. I told them what they could do to maximise the value of the house. They came back six months later to ask me to realise that and I became involved in summer 2021. WHAT WAS THE BRIEF AND WORK DONE? The brief was to modernise the house as it hadn’t been worked on for more than 40 years. Fireplaces were covered up…

PROJECT DETAILS DESIGNER Claire Parry, senior architectural and interior designer, Alexander James Interiors (aji.co.uk) PROPERTY Detached 1960s property WORK Total refurbishment of the house with layout changes and rear extension LOCATION Cornwall After buying their 1960s house in Cornwall in 2021, James and Holly Green entrusted designer Claire Parry with its refurbishment, including the addition of an amazing main bedroom suite with dual-aspect views. 1 CREATE A NEW PLAN When James and Holly bought the house, the design was awkward, disjointed and dark in places. ‘The layout was altered significantly, a new staircase was added, and an extension built to maximise the views,’ explains Claire. On the first floor, the main suite was created along with a guest suite and two guest bedrooms. 2 ADD DRAMA To create the dramatic…

no. 1HOUSE OF THE MONTH HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Terraced Victorian cottage ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner/living area, snug, garden room, cloakroom, four bedrooms, three bathrooms LOCATION South London When her mother passed away, leaving her the small family home in south London, Emma Wilson’s original plan was to renovate the house in order to rent it out or sell it. But having appointed architect and friend Oliver Browning, as well as interior designer Lara Clarke, to transform the outdated property, it began to dawn on Emma that she wasn’t prepared to let go of the house. ‘This is my roots – it is where mum and I had lived,’ says Emma. ‘Talking to Oliver and Lara, I realised we could create a home that was bespoke to my family. It…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Modern custom home, completed in 2021 ROOMS Living/dining room, kitchen, office, playroom, family room, bar, gym, six bedrooms, six bathrooms, laundry room on each floor LOCATION California WHY DID YOUR CLIENTS MOVE TO THIS AREA? Our clients, Shawn and Rupa Badlani, were living in a high-rise in San Francisco when they bought a plot of land in 2017. It’s in a beautiful community surrounded by rolling hills and was ideal for their growing family, which now includes Arjun, seven, Jay, six and baby Laila. WHAT WAS THEIR DESIGN BRIEF? They had a clear vision of their dream family home. It had to have a very modern style with lots of jewel-tone pops of colour throughout, as a reflection of their Indian culture. WHAT WERE THE MAIN…

PROJECT DETAILS OWNERS A couple with teenage children PROPERTY A five-bedroom house, built in 1908 WORK Kitchen extension LOCATION Buckinghamshire Like with many houses built over a century ago, the kitchen in this Arts and Crafts home was small, dark and not given much importance. When new owners moved in, they soon planned an extension to the rear of the property to make room for a light-filled and larger cook space. 1 MAKING PLANS With architect’s plans drawn up, the couple called upon the skills of designer David Sant of Martin Moore. ‘I could see the potential for a magnificent kitchen-dining area geared to modern family life,’ says David, recalling the moment he first saw the drawings. Chunky solid oak beams add character to the space, while wraparound glass affords…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Two former miner’s cottages converted into one with a modern extension ROOMS Kitchen-diner/living area, cinema room, gym/yoga room, games room, utility room, five bedrooms, four bathrooms LOCATION Cornwall home can be many things: a place, a feeling, a memory. For Ines Parker, the Cornish village of St Agnes is all three. ‘Having grown up on the north coast, I love the ruggedness, the rawness, the wildness of nature in all weathers,’ she says. ‘Being in my garden with that view over the cliffs gives me a great sense of tranquillity.’ Ines’ friends told her about a property created from a pair of dilapidated stone cottages once home to tin miners high on the cliff, facing the sea. Initially, Ines had only planned a restoration, that soon…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A 17th-century Grade II-listed farmhouse ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen, dining room, library, three bedrooms, two bathrooms LOCATION Kent Reflecting on the renovation of their 17th-century farmhouse in the Kent countryside, Francesca Reed and her husband Peter Robinson, ‘naively’ underestimated the work required to revive its charm. ‘It was in a terrible condition but just called out to us – it was clear there was so much potential to be realised,’ says Francesca. ‘The roof leaked and pipework was in poor condition. In fact, broken pipes had caused damage to floors and walls.’ After removing the ruined floorboards, woodworm was discovered, which meant not only replacing joists but fumigating the entire house. ‘We were left with just four external walls because the roof needed replacing, too,’ says…

no. 19 HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Victorian terraced townhouse ROOMS Double sitting room, kitchen-diner, office, three bedrooms, three bathrooms LOCATION Berkshire HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? The owners are originally from Slough and live in New York. They do come back to visit family so decided to buy a place nearby. They’ve bought pieces from me before and they asked if I could help them get a couple of pieces for their new home. They love Timothy Oulton and had bought a lot of art and furniture already. I felt the house needed to have a bit more personality. This is a small and narrow property so I put a scheme together. I wanted to paint the walls of the middle room an almost black…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A detached cottage ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner, porch, snug, utility room, four bedrooms, three bathrooms LOCATION Cornwall When Sarah-Jane Cousens and her husband Matthew visited a secluded Cornish cove for the first time, they never expected their holiday memento to be a 200-year-old cottage. ‘During our family break in Port Gaverne, we regularly discussed how magical it would be to own the attractive stone house that was up for sale,’ says Sarah-Jane. On the last day of their holiday, back in 2016, curiosity got the better of the pair and they set up a viewing. ‘We felt compelled to step inside Leat House after my mother, who’d come to stay with us, gave me a painting depicting this very property,’ she says. During the viewing, when…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A newly built village house ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner/living area, TV room, study, utility room, cloakroom, five bedrooms, four bathrooms, gym, pool house LOCATION Surrey Torrential rain and heavy traffic almost thwarted Ronnie and Alex’s attempts to view a five-bedroom new build, surrounded by woodland, in a pretty village in Surrey. ‘We’d been thinking about moving for a while and we saw this house advertised, but the brochure really didn’t do it justice,’ says Ronnie, who came to live in the UK from South Africa in her early twenties. ‘We decided to book a viewing because we love the area but didn’t feel very hopeful as the journey was so terrible due to the weather. Luckily for us, once we made it down the track through…

no. 14KITCHEN FOCUS PROJECT DETAILS OWNERS Lucy Hooker and her husband David PROPERTY Edwardian house WORK A complete redesign to create a kitchen and courtyard LOCATION Southeast London In order to create the spacious kitchen she wanted with a connection to her stunning garden, Lucy Hooker needed to completely redesign her home’s existing dated cook space, the conservatory beyond it and a side return into one big space with zoned areas. 1 ENHANCING THE VIEW As an interior designer, Lucy knew what sort of look she wanted to achieve – and that she had to have a view of the garden. ‘We used an architect from mimodo. info and they came up with the up-and-over glazing, which enables us to see the tops of the trees, and the exposed…

no. 17BATHROOM FOCUS PROJECT DETAILS OWNERS Kim Dawson and her partner David Priestley PROPERTY Three-bedroom Edwardian terrace WORK Converting a spare room into an en suite LOCATION Southwest London After considering moving house, Kim and David decided to put their money into renovating their home. ‘I knew our spare room would make a fabulous en suite, says Kim. The couple favour a classic look in tune with their period house. 1 FIND INSPIRATION The couple have been lucky enough to stay in some fabulous hotels over the years and wanted to create that boutique hotel feel with a main bedroom and en suite that flows with a dressing room/walk-in wardrobe between the two rooms. Most of all Kim was inspired by a luxury, spa-type ambience. 2 EMBRACE TIMELESSNESS Kim kept…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A detached ranch-style house, built in 1963 ROOMS Sitting room, dining room, kitchen, home office, four bedrooms, two bathrooms LOCATION Dallas, Texas ‘Don’t think too much about where something will go – when you buy things you like, items will make sense together’ When vintage style aficionados Kaitlyn Coffee and her husband Nate first viewed the 1960s ranch-style house in Dallas that’s now their home, they knew they wanted to live there. ‘We loved the neighbourhood, the exterior and the trees,’ says Kaitlyn. The period ambience of the house was also a major attraction. ‘I am passionate about vintage art and objects, the stories they tell and the conversations they spark,’ says Kaitlyn. So when she and Nate discovered that the former owner was a vintage…