Surrey Homes | SH51 | January 2019 | Wedding supplement inside

Above: The neon portrait of the Queen is by Philip Oakley, from
a painting by Danny Mooney, both local artists Right: The twostorey
oak shelves are by German firm Hulsta
down outside as they were building a Wesleyan Chapel.
In turn my builders left their own message.”
The wow factor Ian and Lisa brought to their house
is evident the moment you step through the front door
onto a glass mezzanine floor. “It took 12 men to lift
it into place,” admits Ian. “But it was worth it.”
The entrance space is dominated by a neon light picture of
the Queen designed by Hastings-based lighting artist Philip
Oakley. (The original drawing it was based on is by another
local artist Danny Mooney.) It couldn’t look more perfect
– or regal - than warmly lighting this uber modern space.
Standing on the mezzanine it’s genuinely hard to
know where to look first. The three internal storeys
are linked by an incredible helical staircase especially
designed for the space, which dominates the centre
of the house, winding up all three storeys.
Ian confides how a “similar staircase in a Chelsea town
house might set you back £100,000. Instead I found
a firm of joiners in Gathurst who built it from MDF
with a central steel supporting core. I got both this one
and one for the space next door, made for 30k.”
For a bargain piece of joinery (£15,000 per staircase
being a bargain considering the scale and size), it’s an
outstanding and clever piece of statement design.
The glass mezzanine wraps around into a bank of huge
white walls with a solid-floored living area. A grey and
lime green corner sofa from contemporary Italian furniture
brand Ligne Roset, from Wells Interiors, hugs a corner.
By the glass balcony is a pair of vintage ‘slice’ chairs, with
a Ligne Roset table in black and lime green Perspex, topped
with a chinoiserie vase that matches nearby cushions.
The vase and cushions give the air of being terribly
expensive but were bought from the same Habitat collection
a couple of years ago. “Cheap but effective,” says Ian.
On the floor is a wonderful silver and white rug with
a metal thread skull and crossbones woven in.
43 surrey-homes.co.uk