25 Beautiful Homes April 2023

The Art of Reinvention is the name of our feature on Faye and Gary Mortimer’s beautiful house (p24). And REINVENTION is what so many projects are all about, from decorating a guest room to a full-blown extension. Faye and Gary told us how they wanted to step out of their COMFORT ZONE to create EXCITING schemes – a concept that will be familiar to many of you. For Gina and Mark Mills, it was when their children had flown the nest that they took the opportunity to transform their Victorian townhouse with a NEW layout that suits their new life (p76). Anna and John Ferguson also had great vision when faced with refurbishing a dilapidated terrace (p127). The results are impressive. If you’ve reinvented your home, please do get in…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY New-build detached house ROOMS Entrance hall, sitting room, kitchen/living area/orangery dining area, utility room, cloakroom, boot room, playroom, gallery landing, three bedrooms (one en suite), three bathrooms, two walk-in wardrobes LOCATION Essex ‘OUR FAVOURITE ITEM IS THE CUSTOM-MADE DINING TABLE DESIGNED TO FIT THE PROPORTIONS OF THE ORANGERY’ Michael and Iyasha Simpson are a couple for whom contradicting terms have become a fact of life. ‘Iyasha is Mauritian and it’s not in her culture to move often whereas I love it. If it were up to me, we’d move every couple of years – it comes with the territory of my profession,’ Michael says. While Iyasha runs her own beauty business, Michael has a string of estate agents and a property development business, meaning he’s always…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Lower two floors of a Victorian four-storey semi-detached property ROOMS Open-plan kitchen/living/dinging room, TV room, study, utility room, cloakroom, gym, four bedrooms, four bathrooms LOCATION North London ‘Natural materials were used in the kitchen so it feels part of the living space and not utilitarian’ ‘Bedrooms are a great place to experiment with wallpaper – or even a different colour paint – on the ceiling’ HOW DID THIS PROJECT COME ABOUT? After moving into this apartment, which occupies the lower two floors of a four-storey block, Lynsey and Christopher Bell were unhappy with the layout and function of the rooms and sought our services to assist with a reconfiguration and overhaul of the interiors. The interior was largely a shell with little furnishing. WHAT WAS THE…

‘PEOPLE FORGET YOU CAN SOMETIMES EXTEND AT THE FRONT – THAT WAS DONE ON THIS PROJECT TO GET MORE SPACE AND ALSO MORE LIGHT’ HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A mock Tudor detached house, built in the 1930s ROOMS Sitting room, dining room, snug, kitchen, cloakroom, office, games room and den, five bedrooms (three en suite), bathroom LOCATION Hertfordshire When a family has lived in, and loved, their home for a long time it’s a challenge on many levels if they decide to give it a top-to-toe refurbishment,’ says interior designer Angela Simpson (simpsonandvoyle.com.) She and her partner Laura Voyle had an existing relationship with Faye and Gary Mortimer having worked on their London apartment and homes of mutual friends. The 1930s mock Tudor house had served Faye and Gary well…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A five-bedroom, four-storey Victorian villa ROOMS Sitting room, drawing room, study, kitchen/dining room/snug, laundry room, five bedrooms (one en suite), two bathrooms LOCATION Southwest London Time and space were key factors when Martha Riley, a professional violinist and music teacher, and her husband Steven were looking for a home in southwest London for their blended family. ‘Steven and I had been renting a large property near Wandsworth Common, our first home together with our six children from our previous marriages,’ explains Martha. ‘We loved the area and were keen to put down roots, but with only six months left on our lease, time was of the essence.’ Steven had seen a Victorian villa online, which had been in the same family for 30 years, but it…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Cottage dating from the 1750s with an oak-frame extension that was added in 2002 ROOMS Open-plan kitchen/dining/living room, hall/music room, sitting room, boot room, utility room, cloakroom, four bedrooms (one with dressing area and en suite shower room), bathroom LOCATION Suffolk When one partner craves a character home with cosy rooms and old beams and the other prefers bright, open spaces you might think that one person is going to have to give in; that was the concern of floral designer Alexandra Grace (@alexandragraceflowers/alexandragraceflowers.co.uk) and her husband Mark when they started house-hunting eight years ago. ‘We were living in a lovely little cottage,’ says Ali, as she likes to be known, ‘but needed more space indoors and out for our daughters, Matilda, 15, and Scarlett, 12,…