25 Beautiful Homes March 2019

I’m thinking about spring. Although the sun has not yet started to shine, I’ve already spotted the first daffodil of the season. What follows is a sense of optimism. This is a time of action as these months tend to prompt a review of one’s surroundings. Spring is when many of us move home; and if you aren’t moving, you’re probably improving with a large or small project. On the agenda for me this year is an easy but important task: a major declutter. I intend to steadily streamline and simplify in order that there’s nothing left in my home that is not beautiful, useful or of sentimental value. This may be a challenge with a baby, but one that I will relish. A few years ago I introduced a…

Despite its ‘strange mix of styles’, Alison and Paul Teverini could see the potential in their home before they bought it in 2001. ‘We had already lived in the area for a number of years, but we were looking for more space,’ explains Alison, an interior designer and director of Milward Teverini. ‘This house ticked all the boxes, as it was a Victorian property with period features and it had three decent-size bedrooms, two of which could be purloined as office spaces as we both occasionally work from home. The property also had an existing loft conversion that we could improve upon to provide a master bedroom and en suite, and a kitchen that could be extended. Overall we could see the property had plenty of scope,’ she says. Alison had strong…

I’m thinking about spring. Although the sun has not yet started to shine, I’ve already spotted the first daffodil of the season. What follows is a sense of optimism. This is a time of action as these months tend to prompt a review of one’s surroundings. Spring is when many of us move home; and if you aren’t moving, you’re probably improving with a large or small project. On the agenda for me this year is an easy but important task: a major declutter. I intend to steadily streamline and simplify in order that there’s nothing left in my home that is not beautiful, useful or of sentimental value. This may be a challenge with a baby, but one that I will relish. A few years ago I introduced a…

Despite its ‘strange mix of styles’, Alison and Paul Teverini could see the potential in their home before they bought it in 2001. ‘We had already lived in the area for a number of years, but we were looking for more space,’ explains Alison, an interior designer and director of Milward Teverini. ‘This house ticked all the boxes, as it was a Victorian property with period features and it had three decent-size bedrooms, two of which could be purloined as office spaces as we both occasionally work from home. The property also had an existing loft conversion that we could improve upon to provide a master bedroom and en suite, and a kitchen that could be extended. Overall we could see the property had plenty of scope,’ she says. Alison…

Back in 2014, Sally Morgan-Flower and her husband David decided to join forces with her parents, her brother Simon and sister Emma to look for a house in the country. ‘We’d always enjoyed family holidays together, especially in Devon and Cornwall, so it seemed like a good idea,’ says Sally. They promptly embarked on a property search, and lined up a list of possibilities to view. ‘We soon ruled out Cornwall, as we decided it was too far to travel,’ says Sally. ‘We then looked at everything suitable in Devon, from knock-down-and-start-again houses to New England-style beach houses, and this was the last one we viewed.’ This property’s peaceful rural location was instantly appealing. ‘The house has an attractive façade and views over the Torridge valley. It also has a long woodland…

Behind the historic façade of Chris and Lea Szikora’s Parisian home lurks a tale of social revolution. In the 17th century, it was a nobleman’s house. By the 18th century, the aristocrats had departed. In their wake came industry: artisans and cabinetmakers who turned the place into a sawdust-strewn, commercial hub. Onwards to the 1990s, when the house became a designer-sale outlet thronging with fashionistas clawing the rails in pursuit of a bargain. But history has a habit of coming full circle. When Chris and Lea saw the property, it had become a house again. ‘My first memory is of how dark it was,’ says Chris. ‘Upstairs, there were two bedrooms with no windows.’ But the peaceful courtyard setting, a stroll away from a boutique-lined street, was enticement enough for the…