Wealden Times | WT257 | October 2023 | Interiors & Bathrooms Supplement inside

“The appliances are all from Martins of
Hawkhurst, soft furnishings from Bell
House Fabrics & Interiors and carpets
from Butler House Carpets,” she says.
Despite the building’s period features,
its calm and tranquil décor and easy
layout, things have not always been this
way. In the 10 years since moving in an
awful lot has changed. “Initially we just
swapped rooms, turning the drawing
room into a kitchen. The old kitchen
became a snug and is now the boot
room. The dining room is now the kids’
living room and the former playroom
is now the drawing room!” At the same
time they modernised the bathrooms
and added another. “This year we built
this extension… making a huge kitchen
diner. We wanted to have a big comfy
space for the children and a big kitchen
that we could entertain in.” A curved
wall of bifold doors now opens on to
an extended terrace with ‘that view’.
“We used the original ragstone from the
path to extend the terrace and the bifold
doors mean the kitchen really links to
the garden. I’m mad about music, so
there are Sonos speakers out here too.”
It would be too easy to get settled in
the kitchen – I am envisaging coming
on a cookery course as we speak – but
I also want to explore this enormous
house. “Shall we go up via the servants’
stairs?” asks Charlotte. “The servants
would have used these stairs to come up
from the kitchen and to move around
the house without the owners seeing
them.” It’s unimaginable now… but
fun to explore and I’m sure fun for
the children to run up and down, or
sneak up, now they are teenagers.
At the top of the house there remains
what would have been the ‘daily’s’
bedroom. What was once a cupboard
and home to a large water tank has been
turned into an en suite. “It’s perfect for
guests, though my daughter tends to
monopolise the bathroom these days,”
laughs Charlotte. The other guest
bedroom is equally lovely, with views
across the garden and with its own
little period sink. “My mother insisted
that we keep it,” says Charlotte.
Down on the next floor – where most
of the bedrooms are – is the family
bathroom. “This used to be all yellow,”
says Charlotte. These days it’s a much
cooler customer – with a marble-topped
his-and-her’s basin and huge mirror that
reflects the main view over the back
garden and beyond. It would be too
tempting to linger, when brushing your
teeth in the morning, just to take in the
panoramic vista. “We added a shower,
more contemporary Metro tiles – and
Neptune provided the furniture.”
Next door is the master bedroom
which, thanks to the kitchen extension,
now has an even larger balcony
overlooking the garden and reinforced
glass has replaced the railings. “The sun
sets in this direction – so it’s particularly
lovely in the evening.” The room has
been completely re-done, with new fitted
cupboards, and extra panelling behind
the headboard contains hidden shelves.
Soft furnishings add a more personal
touch: “The fabric came from what was
the kitchen. I loved it so much that
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