25 Beautiful Homes February 2023

EDITOR’S LETTER We’ve seen the new year as an opportunity to have a REFRESH, and we hope you’ll love our updated look. As always, the pages within contain the most BEAUTIFUL homes that are full of amazing ideas to try yourself. We were certainly inspired by the owners of the House of the Month, page 8. Inge and Dirk Jansen shared their wonderful story of BUILDING a home for their multi-generational family. As well as creating a house with a low carbon footprint, they have filled the rooms with vibrant hues. COLOUR is a main theme this issue, and on page 26 Phoebe and Tom Henderson’s abode is a great example of how a bold approach to colour and pattern can have a transformative effect. Along with a new…

HOUSE OF THE MONTHno. 1 HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Sustainable new build, completed in 2020 ROOMS Sitting room, dining room, reading nook, orangery, kitchen, study, cloakroom, utility room, five bedrooms (all en suite) LOCATION North Holland After more than two decades living abroad, Inge and Dirk Jansen had drawn up a wish list for the home that they dreamt of building in their native Netherlands: ‘We wanted to be as close to our family as possible, and we wanted to live sustainably – we were looking for a plot of land that we could turn into a food forest, in harmony with surrounding nature,’ recounts Inge. A plot bordering a nature reserve close to Zandvoort in North Holland proved the perfect find. ‘Birds, bees and deer feel welcome here, yet…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Edwardian semi-detached home ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner/seating area, utility room, cloakroom, three bedrooms (two en suite), bathroom LOCATION Southwest London ‘WE RAISED THE LEVEL OF THE GARDEN – A BIG JOB BUT WORTH IT AS IT NOW FEELS LIKE YOU ARE WALKING INTO ANOTHER ROOM FROM THE KITCHEN’S LIVING SPACE’ When Kim Dawson began to get itchy feet she viewed countless properties before realising that taking drastic action and completely remodelling her existing home was the only answer. ‘Nothing I viewed ever really grabbed me,’ says Kim, ‘and as time wore on, the penny dropped that my dream home could be the one I was living in. When my partner David and I moved here, we transformed the house, but gradually it began to feel a…

no. 3 HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY New-build house ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner, playroom, pool room, cloakroom, four bedrooms (one en suite), bathroom LOCATION Hampshire The desire for a spacious, light-filled home where their love of design could be fully realised was the basis for Phoebe and Tom Henderson’s brave decision to embark on designing and building their own home. ‘We were looking for a house that would be practical and comfortable for our lifestyle without compromising on our strong design and style ideas,’ explains Phoebe. ‘We were living in a lovely Victorian terraced house with lots of period features but our space, both inside and out, was limited, especially with our two boys, Johnny, 11, and Leo, nine.’ The couple found a large plot of land in Hampshire and built…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Basement flat in a converted Georgian house ROOMS Living/dining space, kitchen that leads to an undercover lobby, two bedrooms (one en suite), bathroom. The garden is divided into front and rear courtyards LOCATION Bristol ‘MY FAVOURITE SPACE IS THE LARDER – IT HIDES THE FRIDGE AND WASHING MACHINE AND CREATES A BEAUTIFUL FOCAL POINT’ It seemed all too easy for Eirwen Oxley Green to find reasons not to move to Bristol from her long-time home of London, but when a friend challenged her to think again, everything changed. ‘My dad had died unexpectedly and I wanted to be nearer to my mum in Wales,’ says Eirwen. ‘I’d always thought of Bristol as the halfway point from my home and job in London, yet it just felt…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A detached two-storey, red brick Victorian/ Edwardian manor house ROOMS Sitting room, drawing room, dining room, kitchen-diner, study, utility room, cloakroom, eight bedrooms, four bathrooms LOCATION Shropshire ‘MIXING AND MATCHING COLOURS AND FABRICS, WHETHER MINE OR SOMEONE ELSE’S, IS A JOY’ HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH THE PROJECT? Through my husband Ben, whose grandparents bought the house in the 1950s. Ben’s father moved in in the 1970s. He was very much the English country gentleman, and in the latter part of his life he lived here alone, in just three of the 27 rooms. Ben inherited the house from him, sadly too early, in 2013. WHAT CONDITION WAS THE HOUSE IN PREVIOUSLY? The fabric of the house hadn’t been touched for 50 years, and typically…