25 Beautiful Homes August 2021

Judging by the huge increase in demand for seaside properties in recent months, it seems many of us can’t resist the appeal of coastal living. Ronelle and Möller Bester’s beach-front house (p20) is the perfect example of that free and easy waterside lifestyle that so many of us aspire to. Sea views were also a big draw for Julia and Colin Wilson when they had the chance to build their dream home in their favourite coastal spot (p8). And it was a similar story for Aoife and David Porter, whose love of surfing brought them back to Ireland (p94). If the buzz of urban life is your idea of bliss, take a look at how designer Katie Lion has transformed a city apartment with sophisticated style (p84). Whichever type of…

For Julia and Colin Wilson, the opportunity to buy a dilapidated house on the West Sussex coast was impossible to resist. ‘It was just down the road from our former holiday home and we didn’t want to lose our lovely neighbours,’ says Julia. ‘It also had decent garden space, which was a must for all our dogs.’ Importantly, it also gave the couple the chance to build a new home from scratch, one which paid homage to its beachside setting. Clearly contemporary in feel, it boasts angular architecture, exposed steel supports and interior walls encrusted with blocks of Dorset flint stone, and it was built with love and precision by White de Groote Construction. Vast expanses of glass in the windows and doors maximise the ocean outlook and give this lovely home…

Moving from London to Surrey six years ago, Rebecca and Sam Churchill had chosen a family-size house with plenty of potential. But as the years rolled by, busy with family life with their two young daughters, stay-at-home mum Rebecca and visual effects artist Sam found themselves stumped by how to tackle the project. ‘The house was rather chaotic,’ recalls Rebecca. ‘The rooms felt cramped with an illogical layout and our storage was limited, so it was always messy.’ DECOR ATING TIP ‘Choose a simple palette of colours and combine with luxurious textures for schemes that feel both tranquil and rich’ Things were about to change: Rebecca met interior designer Charlotte Drinkall of Shere Madness at a local street party and the pair quickly struck up a friendship. ‘I went to see Charlotte’s…

Soon after they got engaged to be married, Ronelle and Möller Bester took a trip to the West Coast of South Africa’s Western Cape and while they were there, they found a plot of land for sale on the untouched stretch of shoreline known as Dwarskersbos. ‘We loved the wild, remote feel of this part of the coast, which is only a one-hour drive from our principal home, a farm north of Cape Town,’ says Ronelle. She adds, ‘At the time, I had just sold my flat in Cape Town, so we decided to invest the money in the plot.’ It wasn’t until a decade later, by which time they had two children, Julian, now 12, and Josua, 10, that the couple finally embarked on the build. ‘During that time, I…

When Juliet Elliott first viewed her home in Epping Forest in Essex it was its character and sense of space that appealed most. ‘An added bonus was that it was conveniently sited for commuting into London,’ says Juliet, an interior designer who set up her business House of Elliott in 2019. DECORATING TIP ‘Consider upcycling existing furniture as sometimes a lick of paint is all that is needed to give a piece a new lease of life’ Juliet and her husband Chris recognised that with three boys, Sam, now 19, Archie, 17, and Alex, 13, they needed more space than their semi could offer them. ‘Both inside and out, this house has a generous footprint and is surrounded by farmer’s fields and beautiful countryside,’ says Juliet. Once they’d moved in Juliet couldn’t wait…

LESSON LEARNED ‘When we couldn’t find a piece of furniture we liked we had it built instead – like the bench seating in the living room’ From an elevated position on a hillside above Salcombe, the holiday home bought by Lucy and David Renfrew enjoys a panoramic view of one of Devon’s prettiest sandy inlets. Well known for its humming social life and sailing regattas, it was already established as the family’s holiday hotspot. Due to Salcombe’s ever-increasing popularity, finding the right property was a challenge. But this house was just the right size with three balconies and a large garden. However, like so many new builds, it lacked soul. A RACE AGAINST TIME The couple had exchanged contracts just before the first UK lockdown. Lucy recalls her excitement mixed with mild panic. ‘We…