25 Beautiful Homes January 2021

I hope you enjoy our January issue, the first of 2021 – a year full of promise. I found two houses particularly uplifting when editing these pages. I love the use of colour and pattern in Michael Parsons’ London home by interior designer Kate Guinness that you see on the cover. Bright pops of turquoise and hot pink combine with lively wallpapers to transform this classic townhouse. I also like the use of materials – steel, concrete and glass – in Victoria Wolf’s Alpine chalet. Her style is very chic, but her home feels warm and welcoming thanks to all of the texture. Finally, I find joy in the many Christmassy touches that appear in these pages. From stocking-lined mantelpieces to twinkly, decoration-clad trees, there are dozens of charming ideas…

It was the desire to see their three young daughters grow up surrounded by nature that prompted Victoria Wolf and her husband, Julien, to move from Geneva to the ski resort village of Megève in the French Alps. ‘We already knew Megève very well: before we met, we both had chalets here and it was also the place where we chose to get married,’ recalls Victoria, who as an interior designer had a clear vision for the home she hoped to create (follow her interior design firm on Instagram @maisonvictoriawolf). ‘As this would be our permanent family base, I dreamed of building a chalet from scratch. That way we could completely tailor the design to our needs,’ she explains. Victoria, who is French, and Julien, who is Franco-Swiss, were fortunate to…

Kent, the ‘Garden of England’, is truly magical in wintertime. Hedgerows sparkle with an icy glaze and the low sun skims the frosty fields. It’s easy to understand why the Hendersons fell under its spell. Jewellery and knitwear designer (Instagram @mrshendersons_shop), Jessica Henderson grew up in rural France then lived in London for years, but always yearned for a return to the bucolic lifestyle. ‘In January 2016, my husband Charlie was online when he saw a former rectory in Kent for sale,’ says Jessica. ‘We drove down from London as soon as we could and saw its potential immediately, says Jessica. ‘I had been longing for a more outdoor lifestyle for the children and to be able to just open the back door and let them roam without having to walk…

INSPIRATION ‘French interiors – I love the way they can be both classical and minimal at the same time’ Chelsea Dixon and her husband Robert Lars Bühler were starting a family when they began to think of moving house. ‘I’d just come out of hospital after having our son Forest, when I spotted an ad for the house in an auction catalogue,’ says Chelsea. ‘It was a essentially a seven-bedroom bedsit in pretty ropy condition. But it was unusually large for a London townhouse and I’ve always loved this street so I knew we could do something special with it. A week later, Rob rang to tell me: “I’ve bought the house. Now we have to find the deposit!”’ Chelsea and Rob were instantly attracted to the scale of the house, which…

Deep, comforting colours, and the warmth of aged wood create a timeless feel in this old thatched cottage, which comes into its own during winter and looks incredibly welcoming adorned with freshly cut foliage for the festive period. ‘I enjoy all the seasons,’ says Sarah Freethy, a TV producer and keen photographer (peonyandpraxis.com). ‘But these shorter days make me really appreciate just how cosy this house is: I love to sit in the kitchen watching the weather rolling down the valley towards me, yet still be perfectly safe and warm.’ Although Sarah and her partner Phil Nockles feel very much at home here now, they had to travel a fair distance to arrive at this special place. ‘Phil and I needed to find a location that would work for both of…

Lynsey and Paul Cross weren’t particularly looking to move house, but when they spotted an idyllic property in a nearby town in Essex, they decided to view it and instantly fell in love with it. ‘We just had a good feeling about it,’ says Lynsey. The previous family had lived there for 30 years and had treated it with love – as well as a renovation. ‘They wanted another family to cherish it,’ explains Lynsey. ‘It obviously contained a lot of happy memories, and we thought it would be the perfect home for our children, Nathaniel, 18, twins Lucas and Isabella, eight, and Leonardo, six.’ Although the property had been well cared for, Lynsey and Paul wanted to put their own stamp on it. ‘We were keen to keep the original…