25 Beautiful Homes December 2020

One of my favourite homes in this issue is Gloria Sheppard’s fishing village bolthole in Cornwall. I’m not always a fan of shabby chic, but I find its soft neutrals and vintage pieces quite charming. I also like Gloria’s clever use of the space; for instance, some of the kitchen cabinetry slots under the stairs to make the most of every inch. This issue is full of ideas, big and small, to inspire. And it being December, we have placed a particular focus on festive decorating. Our cover story, Leoma Harper’s Victorian home in Surrey, is wonderfully cheerful and packed with original touches. We were drawn to it as a front cover, as Leoma has swathed her table and her tree with colourful details. We love the pops of pink…

DESIGN TIP ‘I use antiques and vintage finds as a starting point for a room scheme and take it from there. The result is a style that is unique and different’ Having been converted to countryside living several years before, Posy and Pete Maitland Carew and their children, Lochie, now 13, and Martha, 11, set their heart on finding the perfect rural spot to create a new home for their growing family. Their search proved fruitful when they came across this Victorian farmhouse in its fairy-tale setting. Built by the local Roxburgh family, the property sits in woodland where Sir Walter Scott used to ride and has a beautiful loch in its grounds. ‘The first winter we lived here, the house was cold and damp, but to us, it felt like home,’…

Having lived in a comparatively large house in a rural part of Dorset, Georgie Maynard deliberately picked her new home in a friendly village locked in a time warp of cobbled streets, grouped around a village shop, a gallery, a church and a pub. ‘At Christmas time, carol singers come to my door, and Morris dancers invade the square in summer. It is a new, uplifting experience for me,’ she says. Having once been an antiques dealer, the irony of buying the one-time village store is not lost on her. ‘When I open the shutters in the large sitting room, friends and family tease me saying I have bought an antiques shop by mistake,’ says Georgie who concedes that it would make a wonderful showroom. Dating back to 1607, the cottage has…

FESTIVE TIP ‘Silver and white tree decorations suit a neutral, pared-back scheme’ Gloria Sheppard loves bold colours but knew instinctively that she would go for white when she saw the heavy wooden beams and dark floors inside Saltponds House, a Grade II-listed fisherman’s cottage just yards from the sea at Mousehole in Cornwall. ‘The coastal light that spills through the windows is fantastic and nothing like the light in Wales where my husband Jon and I live some of the time with our son, Rory, who’s 19,’ she says. LESSON LEARNT ‘Always carry a note with your rooms’ dimensions in case something catches your eye’ The couple fell in love with the fishing village Mousehole years ago after regular holidays there. Keeping an eye on the harbourside cottages, Gloria desperately hoped one would…

When family arrive for Christmas at Deborah Chancellor’s elegant 18th-century home, they can’t fail to be enveloped by the spirit of the festive season. As they stroll into the hallway, they are greeted by a crackling wood burner and the scent of spruce, emanating from the lovingly decorated tree. ‘This beautiful hallway, with its large inglenook fireplace, was just one of many surprises that captivated me when I first viewed the house,’ explains Deborah. In 2010, Deborah, who lives in London with her husband, Jim, and their sons Jacob, 21, and Lucas, 19, decided to follow her heart and enrolled on a course at the KLC School of Design to retrain as an interior designer. ‘While learning about the history of style through the ages, I was particularly inspired by mid-century…

Lucy Wakefield’s countdown to Christmas usually kicks off when the seasonal lights switch on in her village and an invitation to an evening of carols and mulled wine drops through her letter box. ‘This is typical of the friendly all-inclusive hospitality that characterises our village,’ says Lucy who lives here with her husband Anthony and their two small children, Lara, seven, and Oscar, four, and Phoebe, the Birman cat. FESTIVE TIP ‘I love to combine natural foliage with fake. They complement each other and when the real wilts the fake takes over’ Both she and Anthony were brought up in London so moving to the country was very new. ‘We were looking for a house in a village with a community spirit and found this dream home in what has proved to…