Wealden Times | WT178 | December 2016 | Interiors supplement inside

Above: The snug was created as a room for the kids to watch
television, while their parents enjoyed quieter time next door
in the book room Right: The tiger wearing a red hat is by
Cranbrook ceramic artist Marie Prett
business partner all about it. “I was rabbiting on, and his
wife overheard. She said, ‘I know that house. It’s in the most
fantastic location’.” And that was the second twist of fate.
“So, I arranged to look at it,” says Tim. “I drove down
the drive and, when I saw it, I just had this extraordinary
feeling that this was a house we could live in for the rest of
our lives.” The next day he took his wife Eve to look at the
house and the feeling was mutual. Plus, says Tim: “Eve had
always wanted to live in ‘the last house, down a track’.”
Being the ‘last house down a track’ doesn’t really do
the place justice. “Most days you can sit outside, or open
a window, and all you will hear is the sound of running
water and birds,” says Tim. In 1586, someone must have
had a similar thought, when deciding to build a house
here (though perhaps their reasons were more prosaic,
like the convenience of the two natural ponds).
The five-bedroom house, a classic timber-frame
and brick building, clad with white weatherboard is
typical of the Weald. It sits between the ponds and a
weatherboarded barn of the same age – and is surrounded
by paddocks, ancient hedgerows and mature oak trees.
From this starting point, Tim and his family have
created the perfect home – for them – inside and
87 wealdentimes.co.uk