Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2023 i Country Homes & Interiors

THERE’S A COMMON THREAD running through the homes in this issue. More than just a beautiful property or an appealing location, these houses represent a new start and a better way of life for their owners, from the restored farmhouse in Somerset that’s now a much-loved family home (page 48), to the Devon cottage providing an escape from a busy family business (page 36). Of course, we don’t have to make the move to the country to find connection with nature, a better balance between personal and work lives, or the opportunity to welcome family and friends. But as these heartfelt stories show, finding a place where we truly feel at home has the power to transform our lives and make every day feel a little happier. Take a tour…

LISTEN to the Ten Percent Happier podcast for science-backed meditation techniques and valuable insights into how we can boost our wellbeing and feel happier overall, tenpercent.com READ The Wild Bee Handbook (£15, Quadrille) by Sarah Wyndham Lewis for advice on how to plant a ‘bee-kind’ garden. DISCOVER Object Story, an online store featuring a beautifully curated selection of utilitarian and artisan homeware – everyday objects that are made to last. Owner Alice started the business in 2020 from her garden shed, and has since opened a shop in the market town of Stroud, objectstory.co.uk…

Their house search was four years in the making. But one rainy October afternoon, Alice and Rob Lancastle walked into the charming farmhouse of their dreams. Surrounded by the lush Somerset countryside, it’s hard to believe they didn’t notice the incredible sweeping views until their second visit. ‘It just felt like home the minute we stepped through the door,’ Alice explains. ‘The house had been well lived in but was starting to look tired and needed some updating, as well as better cohesion.’ The couple were living in London but found themselves escaping to the Cotswolds at every opportunity, especially after their first son was born. They realised they wanted the benefits of city life but the peace of the countryside, and the rural outskirts of Bath seemed to be…

Uplifting, hopeful and full of promise, yellow makes the perfect ground for delicate floral patterns rendered in pure white or with shots of pink and green Blue and white patterns evoke classic motifs on china and tableware. But pair blue with pink or red, and suddenly a scheme takes on a different flavour Let leafy prints ramble across walls to bring the verdant countryside indoors. Or choose closely planted green patterns for a dense, fresh and dynamic look…

INTEGRATED LIGHTING ‘Integrated lighting in a pantry cabinet is a super-useful feature, mainly because it allows you to see everything easily within the cupboard – no lost tins or spice jars,’ advises Jane Powell, senior designer, Roundhouse. ‘It also creates a more pleasant place to work in, should you be preparing your morning coffee or blending up a smoothie.’ In-cupboard integrated lighting is also useful in breakfast cabinets and home bar units, where it adds a touch of glamour, sparkling on glassware and any other reflective surfaces, such as a mirrored splashback. If you like your existing cabinets but they look gloomy, you can retro-fit lighting; most DIY stores have good options. OVERMANTEL LIGHTING An overmantel can cast a shadow over your hob or range cooker, so installing lighting beneath…

Celebrated Cornish locales such as Rock, Padstow and Polzeath are pricey. But there are real gems where everyday people live off the beaten track. Looe, on the south coast, is divided in two by the river. It is still a working fishing town, with a sublimely good fish shop, Pengelly’s, to prove it. The harbour is pretty, with painted cottages among lots of trees. There are premium properties, yet it’s possible to find terraces or bungalows below £400,000. Britain’s most southerly fishing port Porthleven is another peachy harbour town. High-end restaurants are found here, yet fortunes have been up and down at this remote end of Cornwall. Harbour-side idylls command more; but for a three-bedroom pied-à-terre, £350,000 is not unrealistic. Launceston is the first town you meet on the A30…

Most people don’t know what flooring is made of, so the first thing to do is consider the provenance,’ suggests Sofia Steffenoni, director of materials consultancy, Matter of Stuff. As hard floor materials go, stone and concrete are pretty energy-intensive to extract, manufacture, transport and dispose of. Petrochemical-based materials, meanwhile, such as synthetic vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC), and the glue used to secure it, can release unhealthy volatile organic chemicals or VOCs into your home. ‘Buy local, look for certifications and ask the supplier how flooring has been manufactured. Even natural materials may have been treated with toxic biocide chemicals,’ Sofia says. ‘Think about how flooring will be installed and what happens to it at the end of its life. Dry installation, without glue, is best as it means…

VINEGAR HILL POTTERY, HAMPSHIRE Dave and Lucy Rogers run their popular three-day pottery courses in the pretty village of Milford-on-Sea. With over 30 years of ‘throwing’ experience to share, a large part of the workshop is spent on the potter’s wheel learning basic techniques, culminating with a lesson in Raku firing on the last day. On-site accommodation is also available, including a fabulously restored 19th-century showman’s wagon. vinegarhillpottery.co.uk THE POTTERS STUDIO, EAST SUSSEX This open-plan studio near Ticehurst offers a communal space where keen potters of any level can share creative ideas and learn from each other. Weekly classes are available, while membership plans are also an option for those looking to take things to the next level; these include use of equipment, tools and glazes, your own personal storage…

In Bloom DODECATHEON With petals resembling wings and colourful ‘beaks’, these beauties emerge like swooping tropical birds in spring. SOLOMON’S SEAL The dangling white lantern-like flowers on arching stems light up shady garden nooks from mid-spring to early summer. SAXIFRAGA Pillowy mounds of foliage dotted with delicate flowers – often pink and purple in colour – but look out for the delicious Peach Melba or Buttercream varieties.…

LIFT larger herbaceous perennials, such as hardy geraniums and hostas, and split into sections to replant in the garden. Make sure each section has roots and buds so that it will establish. Water well. FEED container plants to encourage healthy growth as they come into season. Either liquid or granular feed will be suitable SUPPORT tall plants, such as veronicas and asters, with stakes made from hazel and willow. Put tall and straight hazel stems in the ground around the plants as posts. Next, wind willow branches around each other to create a flexible ‘rope’. Loop the willow around the hazel posts and tie to secure, to keep the plant support in place.…

SELINA LAKE styled our feature, The Spring Table (page 116). ‘I will be gathering boughs of crab apple and hawthorn blossom,’ she says, ‘and hanging them with my favourite Easter decorations to display on my mantel and table. And I’ll be making and eating chocolate nests filled with speckled eggs with my family.’ ALISON AND DOUGLAS GIBB respectively write about and photograph houses, including this month’s The Best Medicine (page 24). ‘We will be exploring Whitby together this Easter,’ Alison says. SUSSIE BELL photographed The Spring Table (page 116). ‘Easter is when the gardening year starts in earnest for me. I love to be outside, listening to the dawn chorus with a cup of tea in my hand,’ she says.…

31 MARCH Be inspired to make an Easter wreath using flowers from the garden and hedgerows, with a one-hour online demonstration (there will be a recording if you can’t make it live), £42, commonfarm flowers.com 13 APRIL Learn how to cook seasonal ingredients over an open fire in rural Surrey, £175 per person (includes ingredients, equipment and refreshments), wearethesaltbox.co.uk 13-14 MAY Unleash pet-friendly fun at DogFest, back on a tour of seven venues across the country, with the first stint at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. Tickets £20, dog-fest.co.uk…

A country cottage with oodles of character, but no draughts or creaking floorboards. That’s what Guy and Kitty Wengraf were after, when they moved four years ago from London to the Cotswolds with their three daughters. ‘The cottage wasn’t for us. It was for the multitude of friends and family who fancied a weekend escape to the countryside,’ says Guy. ‘We decided to build a little guest house in the garden of our own home to put them up in.’ Nestled into a secluded plot, within a classic English country garden, this is no ordinary guest cottage, as Guy explains. ‘Our idea was to create a place that was not only enchanting in its setting, but also luxurious in terms of comfort and design.’ The resulting single-storey property, built in…

One of the joys of spring is the return of the sun to highlight the start and end of the day. The dark mornings, gloomy evenings and grey skies of winter can lead to seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression that’s linked to the lack of daylight during the winter months. It’s a feeling that translates to our homes, where even usually bright spaces feel flat and white walls dull to a sallow grey, sucking the energy out of the room. But maximising the flow and play of light in a room can create an uplifting atmosphere at any time of year. ‘For architects, natural light is always the most important consideration in any space,’ architect Matthew Wood, founder of MW Architects, tells us. ‘It is the lifeblood of…

ON THE OUTSKIRTS Situated on Nanpusker Close, this modern end-of-terrace home has two double bedrooms, a conservatory and a workshop (for those of you with craft or DIY leanings). It sits on the edge of Hayle, with good access to the A30 for out-of-town commuting. Snap it up for £220,000. LIGHT & AIRY This detached chalet bungalow in the nearby village of Connor Downs has four ground-floor bedrooms and a further en-suite main bedroom within the eaves. It has a light and airy interior with large windows and an open-plan layout. All this space can be yours for £550,000. SENSE OF HISTORY With views over the body of water called Copperhouse Pool, 36 Hayle Terrace was built in 1891 as a farmshop and café, and has the potential to revert…

Create a springtime centrepiece to decorate your table. Twist raffia or straw into a nest shape and secure with florist’s wire. Cut a circle from a plastic bag and push it into the base of the nest. Then add potting compost and plant a cyclamen and a few spring bulbs. Cover the soil with moss and add a few eggs or a faux feathered bird as decoration. Water and mist occasionally to keep fresh.…

WHATEVER EASTER means for you – a reminder of ancient rituals celebrating the spring equinox, an important festival of faith, or simply the first long weekend of the year when the sun is (almost) guaranteed to shine – it also marks a pause in our calendars. The break in busy schedules, paired with the return of spring bulbs, blossom and the promise of warmer days, is more than enough reason to dress our homes, invite over family and friends, and toast the season with egg hunts, gifts, chocolate and good times. Happy Easter! SOCIAL GATHERING Bring a spring feel to your dining table with cuttings from the garden and hedgerows – a few boughs laden with blossom, branches with pussy willow and dangling catkins, and flowers picked from the garden…

Look around your neighbourhood and chances are you’ll see living roofs popping up everywhere, from garden offices and sheds, to toy stores in school playgrounds. And there’s good reason. From providing a habitat for wildlife, to softening the effects of climate change, a green topping for your home, garage or shed is a sensible as well as an aesthetic option. Living roofs fall into three categories. While ‘intensive’ and ‘semi-intensive’ green roofs require more complicated planting and irrigation systems, and even the advice of a structural engineer, ‘extensive’ options are much easier to create at home. ‘This type of green roof has a planting media measuring 2cm to 20cm deep,’ says Nicola Leyland, director of The Green Roof Company. ‘This means it can be installed on many roofs, particularly domestic…

1 DAHLIA ‘NATHALIE G’ Dahlia tubers that have been left in the ground over winter should start to show signs of new growth at ground level. Tubers that have been dug up and kept in compost indoors over winter should also show signs of shoots emerging. Give them a water to encourage them and plant out in the garden in late May. 2 ANTIRRHINUM MAJUS These seedlings will require protection until after the last frosts when they can be planted outside. Water at the crown and keep well hydrated – they are thirsty plants. Pinching out the tips will encourage more flowering. 3 LAVATERA TRIMESTRIS ‘SILVER CUP’ Sow indoors, placing the seed at a shallow depth in seed compost or well-raked soil. Germination should take place in 15-20 days. Plant…

We all know that tackling weeds with chemicals is harmful to the wildlife and plants in our gardens. But as the weather warms up and our borders become overrun, it can be tempting to reach for the easiest method of control. There is another way. By knowing weeds well, combining different approaches, and taking a live-and-let-live attitude to certain ‘unwelcome’ plants, it’s possible to cultivate a beautiful garden that’s also in harmony with nature. How do I know if it’s a weed? If you’re sowing seeds directly into the soil, you don’t want to pull up your seedlings, mistaking them for weeds. ‘Patience and observation are key,’ says Ruben Calafate, gardens supervisor at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ‘Wait for the first true leaves to appear; these are usually tiny versions…

Now synonymous with luxury fabrics, this family firm had a humble start. It all began in 1865 in Leeds, when Saffron’s Hare’s great-great grandfather, James (after whom the brand is named) sold fabric lengths sourced from local weavers to London tailors. By the 1920s, James Hare had become the largest textile distribution house in the UK, and soon established itself as Britain’s leading silk merchant – a title it still holds today. In 1999, the brand began producing its own interior fabric collections, ranging from textured naturals to richly embellished designs, always with quality and style at the fore. As creative director, Saffron oversees the brand’s creative vision, and travels the world visiting trade shows and meeting customers. Where is James Hare based? In Leeds, which used to be at…

There are some years where it feels slightly harder to pull ourselves out of our winter slumber. Like a slow stretch accompanied by an involuntary yawn, our tentative steps into spring can feel like a hesitant dip of toes into chilly, yet refreshing, water. Our spring awakening often starts with crisp and clear blue skies and the type of sparkling sunshine that is all show over substance. We call it ‘fake sun’ in our household. Spring sunshine can be a tease, but one that still raises a smile of delight and for which we are grateful after the long haul of a darkened winter. There are a few ways I like to prepare for this welcome change. Firstly, hyacinths, daffodils and tulips in a variety of old vessels and pots…

Nestled in the rolling hills of Devon’s South Hams, a stone’s throw from the wooded banks of the river Dart, is the quiet hamlet of East Cornworthy. It’s a setting Rebecca Walker instantly fell in love when viewing her cottage for the first time in 2020. ‘We have lived in our rented farmhouse in West Berkshire and run our landscaping and tree surgery business from there for almost 15 years,’ explains Rebecca. ‘With little separation from our personal and work lives, we were keen to buy a small country retreat to escape to that we could also share with family and friends.’ The Walkers had focused their search in South Hams as it’s where they had spent many happy holidays. After months of searching, they had almost given up hope…

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Every commandment can be broken, but Abigail Ahern believes that some ground rules about arranging furniture can help us to design better spaces. And if something isn’t working? ‘Be rebellious, experiment, be creative and flout the rules!’ PUT YOUR FURNITURE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM ‘Your room will feel bigger if you let it breathe, and moving the sofa off even a tad will create a better sense of balance. And if you happen to have a larger space, move the furniture into the middle of the room as quickly as you can!’ INCLUDE GREAT FOCAL POINTS ‘Focal points can appear naturally, such as a fireplace mantel or a window. Or you can create your own by adding something the eye is drawn to. You can go big with…

Not quite as quaint as dreamy St Ives across the bay, Hayle strikes a more earthy, hearty note. It is somewhere ‘real people with real lives live’, as one local tells us. There are granite outcrops and moorland to the west, but sheltering dunes, aka ‘towans’, and the estuary setting make the climate mild for the north coast location. The town’s proud industrial heritage makes its presence felt, with stone viaduct, quays, wharves and sluicing ponds. An iron foundry and a copper smelter were established at opposite ends of town in the 1800s, bequeathing not only the current layout, from Foundry Square to tidal reservoir Copperhouse Pool, but also forging a strong spirit. Even today, residents will refer to themselves as a ‘Foundry girl’ or ‘Copperhouse lad’. In spring, the…

Our relationship with fire dates back millennia. Offering a warm welcome, a hearth creates a central point around which family and friends can spend time together, chat and relax, all while basking in the gentle heat and glow of the flames. When added to the garden, a firepit brings this tradition back into our lives, drawing us outside once the sun has set to enjoy each other’s company. What’s more, a firepit is also fairly straightforward to install yourself. CHOOSING THE RIGHT DESIGN Your main option when it comes to a built-in firepit is whether you create a raised design, in which bricks form a wall around the flames, or a sunken design with the firepit constructed below ground in a purpose-built depression. ‘A raised firepit will be easier and…

French onion soup with cheese and Marmite toasts SERVES 6 AS A STARTER OR 4 AS A MAIN Our British twist on the French classic can be made ahead of time, ready to warm up to serve with the cheese toasts. 40g butter, plus 1tsp1.25kg (4-6 large) onions, finely sliced2tbsp plain flour3 garlic cloves, crushed200ml dry cider2 x 500ml pouch fresh beef stock FOR THE TOASTS 1 bunch spring onions6 slices of baguette2tsp Marmite40g mature Cheddar, grated 1 In a large pan that has a lid, melt 40g of butter, then cook the onions over a medium heat, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and keep cooking, stirring regularly, for 30 minutes or so, until the onions have caramelised. 2 Stir in the flour and garlic and cook for…

I live in Chelsea, in London, with my Shih Tzu, called Twicks. I rarely have time to go to the country, but when I do get to spend a day or two away from the city, I love to go to Tetbury in the Cotswolds. I have close friends who live there. I’d begin my day with a relaxed breakfast while reading the paper, then I would take Twicks for a long walk with my friends. Tetbury is home to some of my favourite antiques shops, including Lorfords, Brownrigg and Twig. I enjoy browsing them all, and I’ll often come away with something intriguing for myself, or else I will be on the look-out for furniture and accessories for my clients all over the world. Some of my best buys…