Surrey Homes | SH50 | December 2018 | Health & Beauty supplement inside

Above left: The bespoke kitchen has a central island where Kim displays her charity shop and boot fair mix and match plates
Above right: The ground floor cellars with a workshop at the back
those with a penchant for minimalism. Like the rest of the
house it’s uncompromising in every way. Paul upholstered
the patterned sofas, complete with tassels and fringes. ‘We
don’t do understated, we do stately,’ he says, with a smile.
Patterned wallpaper from Shand Kydd continues the
rich, dare I say it, Vatican style, that the couple have
created. Religious statues sit alongside scene-stealing
gilt candlesticks and a supersized coffee table – brought
back from LA – injecting a little Hollywood glamour
to the ecclesiastical backdrop. The icing on the cake?
Vermilion and gilt patterned curtains with swags, tails
and drapes, designed by Paul and made by a local curtain
maker, complete with ruched Schiaparelli pink blinds, a
vibrant backdrop to a Madonna crowned with stars.
‘Some of our inspiration comes from houses like
Chatsworth which I visited as a child with my parents,’ says
Paul. ‘And of course every Hammer Horror film ever made.’
The lower ground floor flows into the garden, with a tiled
entrance porch, part of the original clock tower, flooded with
natural light. The porch is home to a glass-topped metalwork
table and lamp made from a 1920s candlestick, both bought
in LA and likely to have come from a Hollywood film set.
The elegant dining room, papered in gilt-patterned
wallpaper and lit up by another supersized chandelier, is one
of the grandest and most enviable rooms. A sprawling 1920s
oak dining table (purchased at an auction) dominates, teamed
with 18th century Renaissance revival carved and upholstered
chairs found in an antique shop in Hastings Old Town.
Crystal candelabra lamps and a bust of Bacchus
add a theatrical flourish to the table setting.
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