Wealden Times | WT171 | May 2016 | Restoration & New Build supplement inside

Above, right and left: The couple’s son’s room is themed with his current favourites, including racing cars and sailing boats and Victoria says that her
three-year-old is very proud of having tidied it himself for the visitors. Convincing ‘faux’ plants add a touch of colour – without the risk of soil spillage
fronted linen press just outside the room on the landing,
and around the corner, by the second staircase, folding
doors reveal an ingenious laundry ‘room’ – a supersized
cupboard that accommodates a double Belfast sink and
washing machine and dryer beneath a long worksurface,
perfect for folding and pressing linens. Hanging rails
above mean that clothes can be dried and aired, and as
Victoria explains, in the case of the children’s school
uniform, rarely have to be put away, because the children
can simply collect what they need each morning.
“It makes so much more sense to have the laundry
facilities upstairs too,” she points out, “because of course,
everyone dresses upstairs, and sheets and bedclothes can be
shaken out over the stairwell and folded ready for ironing,
so the whole process is so much quicker and easier.
“We had this second staircase taken out and re-built,”
adds Victoria. “It took ages to work out exactly how to
redo it, and we added an extra quarter landing, so that
we could maximise the space in the kitchen and have
the seating area there, but it also made the space up here
work so much better too, and we now have the two guest
bedrooms and bathroom in this wing of the house.”
The first bedroom has furniture from The Coach
House and a pale duck egg blue and taupe toile is used
for the blinds and cushions. A looking-glass hangs on
the wall between the windows and has a deep, chalkpainted
frame, delicately done by Victoria after she’d
taken an Annie Sloan furniture-painting course.
In the second guest room, a Savoy-style bed has
a velvet covered headboard that was bought from
Lots Road in London and a huge, painted armoire
came from Mark Maynard antiques in Tunbridge
Wells, while a carved, painted table accommodates
more of Victoria’s favourite shagreen accessories
from OKA that feature throughout the house.
Even the guest bathroom has been thoughtfully
planned and is lined with tiles from Mandarin
Stone that are comprised of fossilised shells. An
antique, ornately carved pedestal table provides a
decorative flourish, and on the other wall there is a
collection of exquisitely delicate seashell prints.
We descend the stairs and enter the garden
through the French windows from the kitchen,
then stand for a moment on the balustraded terrace
overlooking the sweeping lawns and box-edged
beds. Molly the dog follows us along the gravel
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