Surrey Homes | SH66 | April 2020 | Gardens supplement

Above: A piece by the artist Wreckage, a member of an art
co-operative called the Mutoid Waste Company, painted on a
panel of a fighter jet, hangs above the woodburner in the sitting
room Left: Harvey Jones fitted out the kitchen
neighbour, who was an architect specialising in old buildings.
When Nick came in and said, ‘We’ll take these walls down,
and put in this kind of goalpost RSJ thing’, it sounded like
a big-old engineering feat.” But they trusted his judgement
and the budget just about allowed for it. “When we walked
in the door for the first time and saw the view and the light…
we knew we’d made the right decision,” says Rob. The only
hitch was that they ran out of money when it came to fitting
the doors. “We planned to have oak doors to the snug and
the kitchen,” says Rob. “But we thought, ‘It doesn’t look too
bad without doors, let’s try it.’ Now we love it without.”
The couple, who met at school, lived and worked in
London for many years. Their first flat was in Shepherd’s
Bush, then Parsons Green, before they bought a Regency
maisonette in Camden. “That was when we got our taste
for doing up period homes,” says Jane. After that, they
moved to Boughton-under-Blean in Kent before finding
their current home. “This is the longest we have ever
stayed in one place,” says Rob, and it’s clear that they love
it here. “It’s a big house… But we just love space. Space
feels like more of a luxury to me than wealth,” he adds.
They are not the only ones who love this house,
interviewer aside. “We’ve had quite a few long-term
guests – people who have come for a few days and stayed
longer,” says Rob. “My godson came for an emergency
two-week break and was here for six months”. It
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