Wealden Times | WT243 | August 2022 | Taste Of The South East Supplement inside

This page: From the roof and wall timbers that have been kept, sitting alongside the new skylights and large windows, to the
inglenook fireplace, much of the house’s five-hundred-year history has been kept and adapted to a modern family home
so as you can imagine finding a house to accommodate us
all was tricky. When I first saw the barn, which was quite
dark and hadn’t been touched since the ’80s, I instantly
knew how to make it work. The house was surrounded by
the most beautiful rolling countryside, yet it had all these
small windows, so I knew opening up the views and taking
out some internal walls would transform the space.”
However, whilst Madlin had initially bought and designed
the house as her family’s escape route from London, little did
she realise that a new job in Manhattan and a relocation to
the US, would mean that the house would become essential
in their family life back in the UK. “This house has saved
us, literally. Suddenly moving to New York was a huge
upheaval. One minute I thought I would be baking bread
in Kent, the next minute I was working in the middle of
New York. This house has become like the heart of my
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