Surrey Homes | SH105 | October 2023 | Interiors & Bathrooms Supplement inside

able to walk everywhere and get the bus… they love the
independence of living in a small market town too.”
According to Charlotte, the building’s grandiosity is largely
due to the fact that it was built by a wealthy local brewing
family in the late Victorian, early Edwardian period – though
its tile-hung exterior and the garden’s enormous Scots pines
make it feel even older. As you come in the magnificent front
door, the first thing you notice is the ornate tiled hallway.
“I haven’t done anything to it as I thought if I polished it
it would make it really slippery!” says Charlotte. She has
also retained the inevitable cracks and small imperfections
– “It gives it personality,” she says, quite rightly.
Looking down the length of the lofty hallway, past
the stairway, it’s impossible not to notice the view from
the back of the house, out across the High Weald. Neat
lawns, a rose garden and whimsical topiary are set against
a backdrop of rolling orchards and woodland. “The rose
garden was originally a pond but I filled it in as I worried
about the children when they were little,” says Charlotte.
You can’t help but be drawn to the back of the house
and, more importantly, into the real party piece of this
large family home; the kitchen. The heart of the house
is not only where family and friends spend most of
their time, it’s also Charlotte’s new workplace. “I teach
cookery – but I also do catering and food styling.”
Charlotte founded The Needy Greedy soon after lockdown,
finding herself in need of a change. “My mum was a caterer
and trained chef… so I grew up learning to cook with what
was in the garden and getting creative.” In her gap year
Charlotte did a Cordon Bleu cookery course, then went on
to do a BA & MA in political science before working as a
This page: The drawing room. The lamps and tables were from
Woodcocks in Tenterden and the moose and flamingo prints
were a Wealden Times Fair find from Jenny Wren Design
69
priceless-magazines.com