Surrey Homes | SH33 | July 2017 | Interiors supplement inside

Above: A central feature of the open plan kitchen/dining/living area is a huge dining table, which has been designed
to be reconfigurable – it can be a square or a rectangle, depending on how many are coming for dinner
me know if anything changed, and six months later the
buyer pulled out – there was so much to be done: rewiring,
re-plumbing, you name it. The agents put the
property back online at 9am one morning. By 9.30am
I had seen it and by midday I’d purchased it.”
Marta explains that the building took a long time to
get planning permission, as it is in Rye’s conservation
area. “Rye is very medieval. The wall in the front is listed
and the other wall behind the property is part of Rye
Citadel. My style is quite monolithic, which works well
with the medieval wall. There is also a feeling of medieval
hall house going on in here, so this was the inspiration
for the plan. The fire had to be central so that people
can gather in the middle of the room.” The double sided
wood burning stove and adjacent log pile are housed on a
huge concrete plinth. It is a focal point, whether the fire
is lit or not. Another central feature is the huge dining
table, which has been designed to be reconfigurable, so
that it can be a large square or a rectangle, depending
on how many are coming for dinner. The open plan
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