Wealden Times | WT244 | September 2022 | Winter Interiors Supplement inside

This page: Large sliding pocket doors separate the
dining room from the sitting room, both papered
in Jardine wallpaper by Colefax & Fowler
ago after visiting the town, on what Berni
describes as ‘a complete whim’ after reading
about it in an article. “It was pouring with
rain and we got soaked and we didn’t hate
it,” says Berni, laughing, which helped
them decide it was the place for them.
And so, it seems, was this particular house,
with there being one of those ‘meant to be’
property purchase stories involved – when their
London place was sold, only for the house they
were buying in Hastings to fall through.
“We were going to move into a rental, to look
for another house to buy,” says Berni, “when the
estate agent told us about this one. We had seen
it was empty when we were exploring the Old
Town and presumed somebody had already got
it. We drove down the next day and bought it.”
What they snapped up is an early Victorian
villa, from 1830, attached to a neighbouring
house on one side – with a small gap on the
other, which gave them a great opportunity.
“We found an Edwardian photograph of
the house from The History House in
Hastings Old Town,” says Berni, “and
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