Wealden Times | WT263 | April 2024 | Garden Supplement inside

Top: The interior mood changes as you enter the cosy sitting room. “This side is for night time and winter,” smiles Victoria, “and the
more open living space near the kitchen is for summer and daytime living.” Above: An oak staircase leads up to two further bedrooms
are tempted to call it the Orangery;
it functions as a cloakroom, office,
games room – aka a very useful space.
The interior mood changes as we
head into the cosy sitting room. “This
side is for night time and winter,” smiles
Victoria, “and the more open living
space near the kitchen is for summer
and daytime living.” This cosy retreat is
painted in Farrow & Ball’s Down Pipe.
“It’s a dark colour, but the deep greyblue
has hints of green, so it is a warm
feel. We wanted to go more traditional
at this end of the building. The existing
beams were originally to be covered but
we asked for them to be exposed – it
brings more warmth and character.”
Builder Jeremy remembers the
state that this heritage building was
in when they started. “It was on the
verge of collapse,” he laughs, “what
a nightmare. The whole thing nearly
fell down. We had to take this whole
end off the house and rebuild it. It
needed to be underpinned. We installed
purlins around the ceiling of the
other bedroom – they had to be put
in because the building needed to be
structurally secure.” Now the purlins
and the brackets look really smart as
if they are design features, as much as
fundamental to the building’s integrity.
There are two good sized bedrooms
on this side. The largest has a natural
divide as the flue for the wood burner
in the sitting room below had to be
incorporated into this room, making
it ideal for two children sharing.
With ultimate flexibility of living
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