25 Beautiful Homes February 2020

There is so much promise at this time of year; a chance to begin again with a new mindset, a new mood. I’m not one for worrying too much about self-improvement – I suspect that deep down we’re all pretty good as we are – so instead of focusing on a new you, let this issue inspire you to have a new way of thinking about what’s around you. I’m particularly taken with the way Catherine Nice has repurposed vintage pieces in her family house in Kent on page 34, reminding us that breathing new life into what we own is often the best way to hit refresh. That said, this month can be a time to tackle those larger projects. Perhaps you’ll want to let the light in, like Nick…

Trying to honour the heritage of an old building while giving it a new lease of life always presents a challenge to a renovator. But this Suffolk barn conversion has achieved a pleasing balance between the before and after. ‘Before we started the build, I used to mentally walk through the house every night as I was falling asleep, trying to envisage how the layout would work,’ says Onitha Jarrold, who with husband Dan bought the site and outbuildings on the grounds beside her old family house. Together they have created a modern home for themselves and sons Noah, now 14, and twins Isaac and Finn, 11, plus Sunny the Cockapoo. ‘I spent a lot of time making mood boards and doing sketches,’ says Onitha, who runs a furniture refurbishment business…

As keen skiers, Melbourne-based Joe Bartolo and his wife Olivia, along with children Kayden, 12, and Milla, nine, are regular visitors to the Victorian Alps. Mount Hotham has become their favourite winter playground and it is there that they have created the perfect family-orientated chalet. The three-story building, which has become such a strong feature in their lives, is situated on one of the resort’s most popular runs. In previous seasons, the family had often admired the property as they skied past – and a long campaign for ownership ensued. ‘The chalet belonged to a friend of mine and we were constantly bantering about how I wanted to buy it, but he wouldn’t sell,’ Joe laughs. Eventually, his persistence paid off and the friend agreed to sell him the property, but…

DESIGN TIP ‘Instead of overhead units in the kitchen, consider adding open shelving, which is ideal for displaying lovely china and treasured pottery’ Having grown up in West London’s Holland Park, Coco Campbell had always admired the houses in nearby Kensal Rise. ‘I love the historical character of the area so finding this cottage on one of my favourite avenues was quite unbelievable,’ says Coco. ‘The property was in good repair when I bought it so I moved in straightaway, but my plan was to renovate the whole house with an emphasis on lots of natural light and somewhere to display books and artworks.’ Luckily for Coco, her next-door neighbour was interior designer Amelia McNeil, owner of Amelia McNeil Interior Design who had recently renovated her own home. ‘When I saw Amelia’s…

Until a decade ago, architect Mia Buzzi’s beautiful house was a deserted old concrete factory in downtown Milan. ‘When I first saw the property, it had been abandoned for 50 years,’ she says. ‘Although it was decaying, the beams, trusses, skylights, granite columns and some of the beautiful cast iron tie-rods were still intact.’ Many people would not have seen the attraction of this empty space, but Mia knew its potential. ‘It was the ideal spot for my long-held dream of a home with a real lawn, open-plan spaces and large windows,’ she says. From a planning perspective, Mia’s greatest worry was how to preserve the flow of the space, which she did by incorporating the sitting room, dining room and kitchen on the ground floor. A wooden stairwell – twice…

Having decided to move from South Wales, Francesca Hayden and her husband David wanted to find a large home with garden space and, ideally, lovely views. ‘When we viewed this property in Devon, it was just what we were looking for,’ she says. ‘We also liked the unconventional entrance, which opens onto an unusually wide tiled hallway with four rooms off it.’ The Victorian-style detached villa is certainly grand from the outside, and needed an interior to match. So Francesca and David embarked on a reconstruction of the house which involved remodelling the property – set over three floors – to create open-plan relaxed living spaces together with a more formal sitting room on the middle floor. This allowed the couple to make the most of the beautiful coastal views which…