25 Beautiful Homes September 2019

Trends... do they matter? I’ve been giving this a lot of thought lately. In fashion magazines, September issues usually feature a major reveal of looks for the new season. In interiors, it’s a little different. Of course, we do write of trends, but the focus is more on broad themes that emerge from product collections or seasonal moods. And, indeed, almost all of the interior designers I speak to say that they don’t (and won’t) follow them. Instead, in interiors what really matters is personality and style confidence. While we always feature unique homes in 25BH, this month I believe they are a particularly confident bunch. We are showing colour and pattern on walls, floors and furniture, strong architectural detailing and the collected look. One of my favourite homes in…

Purchasing this weatherboard house was the realisation of a dream Mark Leversedge had held since he was a child. ‘I used to look at it when I was playing on the beach because it’s located right on the sand, and think, wow, what an amazing place to live,’ he says. Years later, Mark let his wife Kim into his secret and she, too, fell in love with the idea of living in the property just yards from the sea. By this time, the couple had three young children and Mark was busy running his own marketing company in London. He began to see the beach house as an opportunity to escape. ‘I was working crazy hours and barely seeing my family,’ he explains. ‘So, every so often we’d come down here…

Until around 10 years ago, Kate Pols ran a successful antiques and interior design business based in the picturesque town of Hungerford. ‘As much as I loved dealing in antiques, after 20 years I decided it was time for a change and a simpler life,’ says Kate. ‘So once the dust had settled after selling the shop, I began looking around for a new challenge.’ For Kate, who lives and breathes design, it was a foregone conclusion that this ‘new challenge’ was going to be a new home. ‘I’d been looking for the right property for a while but nothing really appealed to me until I saw details of this house, an extended 17th-century cottage,’ she says. ‘I drove by to take a look and decided without even going inside…

Having searched for the right home for a year, Jules Coleman and her partner Simon Rohrbach were delighted to discover a four-bedroom Victorian terraced house in London. ‘We loved how well proportioned the house was, especially with its high ceilings,’ says Jules. ‘There’s also a nice community feel here, with plenty of independent shops, great restaurants and good pubs. Plus, there are lovely green spaces nearby, ideal for long Sunday walks with our dog, Percy.’ Jules believes the property was divided into flats before the previous owners converted it into a family home. As a result, the layout didn’t lend itself to the way she and Simon wanted to use the space. ‘Everything was structurally sound, but the layout and things like the flooring and even the fixtures and fittings needed…

There is more than an air of romance about the home of Jaime and Justin Cooke. Not only was this Jacobean-style mansion in Kent the scene of countless society balls – it was built in 1870 by the third Marquess Camden – but Justin bought its west wing as a surprise first home together after proposing to Jaime. Seeing the house for the first time left an indelible impression on Jaime, for several reasons. She recalls: ‘I was staggered by the building’s beauty and its peaceful surroundings.’ A tranquillity that was quickly shattered, however, when a rock band arrived to film a video. ‘It was surreal – the band, The Darkness, and their extras, were dressed up in outlandish garb and shooting scenes all around the house and grounds,’ says Jaime. The…

The moment when Cat Dal’s bespoke floor-to-ceiling sliding doors were cautiously fed through the front windows of her new flat is not one she will forget in a hurry. The nail-biting episode came after a patient 18-week wait from order to delivery. ‘The doors, which now open onto our garden from the kitchen, were the linchpin of the renovation,’ she says. ‘Craning them into place wasn’t an option, so we removed the front window frames and brought them in that way. Let’s just say that there was zero room for error.’ Interior designer Cat, who runs Cat Dal Interiors, was heavily pregnant while fixing up the flat that she shares with husband Stuart and 10-month-old Jasper, but is used to dramatic moments such as this, having overseen several similar projects for…