Wealden Times | WT177 | November 2016 | Christmas Gifts supplement inside

Above: A Coca Cola crate Stuart found at Tower Antiques, in
St Leonards, makes a perfect herbs and spices store. Below right
The 1950s Russian print is from McCully & Crane
Their house, a classic redbrick late Victorian villa with
decorative plasterwork, is an excellent example of the kind
of properties which attract couples with young families to
decamp to the seaside town. But while it looks like a classic
late 19th century home from the outside, once through the
front door, the feel is rather different.
The main reception room runs from the front bay window
to the rear bi-folding doors and is an eclectic mix of objets
trouvés. In the part that is used as a sitting room, a large cow
skin rug covers the centre of the bare floorboards and there is a
velvet sofa and a vintage leather chesterfield and armchairs. A
stuffed stag’s head oversees everything from its mount on the
wall and more Victorian taxidermy is displayed in glass cases.
The original arched marble fireplace has a traditional gilt
mirror above it, but to the side of it is a painting of Mickey
Mouse in US army fatigues with a bandaged ear.
“That’s a copy of an old picture that apparently appeared
in Vogue,” says Stuart, “and was reworked in the 1960s with
different buttons and epaulettes to get around the copyright
laws. I just liked the way it subverts the usual image of him.”
In the dining room, a larger-than-life-size statue of an Italian
traffic policeman holding out an ice cream stands guard over
the diners. “He used to be in my local pub, the St Leonards,”
says Stuart casually, as if every pub has an Italian policeman
65 wealdentimes.co.uk