Wealden Times | WT206 | April 2019 | Garden supplement inside

A cosy guest room has a relaxed botanical feel with bold print wallpaper and floral patchwork quilt
quite beautiful, but it’s not to everyone’s taste, I know.”
Clare takes me through to the kitchen where she is making
lunch. “The old kitchen was barely big enough to swing a
cat, this works so much better, don’t you think? I can stand
here and see pretty much all the main areas of the ground
floor, so it’s nice, you don’t get cut off from everything.”
The new extension, which now houses the extended kitchen
and dining area, features a spacious pitched roof with
rooflights, a large oriel window and a pair of French doors,
all of which flood the room with light from every side. Yet
more light comes in from the conservatory to the left.
Back in the entrance hall, a pair of glazed double doors
opens to the reception area. Built, like the rest of the house,
on the diagonal, with no dead flat windows or walls, the living
room offers various different nooks and crannies to explore.
Painted in a soft eau de nil colour, with a generous wooden
floor, you find a small desk area hidden away, next to a pair
of offset French windows. The main seating area is created
by a contemporary corner sofa. Several armchairs, all from
different eras, sit around an original fireplace. An over-stuffed
sofa invites you to sit in yet another area, next to which stands
an easel with a still life – it all just seems to work. You feel
the house can expand and contract seamlessly, never feeling
too large yet offering many different cosy spaces, should you
be on your own. However from the steady flow of friends
and family who come down regularly from London, where
Clare also lives, I don’t think there is much ‘alone time.’
Over the garage, where there was once a balcony, Clare has
created a guest suite, with pitched roof and large windows
and further skylights creating a light and airy space. “I wanted
a Scandi feel in this room. I got the curtains from a job,
and they sort of dictated the rest of the room. The rattan
bedhead was from eBay – I love it but my grandchildren
seem to delight in picking bits off it!” The bedroom leads
off a library area, packed with books. However the big
surprise is what lies beneath. Follow the low level lights
down a set of plushly carpeted stairs and you find yourself
in a basement cinema room, worthy of LA. Comfy sofas
and armchairs are stylishly arranged in front of the large
screen that hides behind the velvet curtain. “It’s great,
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