Frances Halliday spent the pandemic dwelling the life most of us may solely dream of.
Reduce off from the world in her charming Cape Cod-style 1780s clapperboard cottage, she loved the whole lot the countryside needed to provide: solitude, rural views from each window, birdsong and an actual reference to nature.
Besides Frances was not within the countryside. Astonishingly, her tranquil oasis of a house is in bustling south-east London, not removed from Peckham.
Sitting in half an acre and nestled in its personal non-public micro hamlet, her enchanting four-bedroom Georgian cottage is situated within the Sydenham Hill Conservation Space on the outskirts of Dulwich.
And mockingly, after as soon as dwelling in an enormous home in a tiny village on the outskirts on Chichester, she says she and her artist husband, Trevor, get pleasure from extra tranquillity right here than they ever did within the nation.
‘We moved again to London 4 years in the past, then when Covid hit, everybody was determined to maneuver out to the countryside. Everybody besides us, that's,’ laughs Frances.
‘We have been dwelling within the nation earlier than we moved right here and whereas that sounds fantastic on paper, our expertise was that nation roads are busy and noisy, there aren't any parks to stroll your canine and many of the stunning land is non-public so that you merely can’t entry it.
‘You might be virtually confined to staying in your personal backyard. We felt so lucky to have moved right here – it actually was the right place to spend lockdown.’
‘Now restrictions are lifted and everybody goes again to the workplace, this place actually does provide the very best of each worlds. You may get to work in central London in half an hour, then escape to your nation residence each night time. We are actually six miles from Huge Ben.’
Sitting in half an acre of superbly mature gardens, there’s additionally ample off-street parking, a indifferent artwork studio/annexe and plenty of outbuildings.
The clapperboard is filled with character. Earlier than transferring in, inside designer Frances and Trevor spent £300,000 sympathetically refurbishing it to revive the place to its former glory.
The plantation shutters had deteriorated so badly they wanted changing. A lot of them have been lacking.
The back and front porches have been restored and painted within the authentic blue color to match the brand new shutters. New back and front doorways have been added and French doorways have been additionally changed.
‘We’re in a conservation space so have been restricted to exchange the whole lot like for like,’ says Frances. ‘But it surely was so superbly charming we wouldn’t have wished to vary something anyway.
‘There are 5 homes within the hamlet and each one is totally completely different however equally beautiful and characterful. It’s like one thing out of the Martha’s Winery or The Hamptons.
‘We’d holidayed in Cape Cod and cherished the approach to life over there. After we got here throughout this home in London, we couldn’t consider it existed. Earlier than strolling by way of the entrance door we had completely fallen for its appeal. It was so chocolate boxy. I actually couldn’t have drawn one thing I cherished extra.’
The home actually does have a Hamptons/Cape Cod vibe with its conventional white picket inside and blue accents.
The partitions – clad in reclaimed floorboards – are pristinely painted in Farrow & Ball’s All White, which work superbly with the Skandi pale wood flooring.
The vaulted ceilings and authentic beams are additionally washed in white to make the area extra ethereal and vivid – whereas open fires make it really feel cosy and homely.
The framework of the home additionally varieties a clean canvas for Trevor’s paintings, giving it a contemporary gallery really feel.
‘A number of the work are of issues we personal,’ laughs Frances, ‘I’m so fortunate that if there’s an area wants filling on the wall I can get Trevor to color one thing.’
Frances is an enormous fan of blue and the color accents proper all through the home, within the sofas, lampshades and cushions. There’s a contact of girly pink within the bed room.
The lights, mirrors, dressers and objet d’artwork are collected from vintage festivals so as to add color, heat and extra layers of character.
Her assortment of blue and white ceramics on the open cabinets within the Neptune hand-built kitchen add that further contact of The Hamptons.
The items are painted in powder blue, as are the distressed eating desk and benches within the open-plan adjoining diner.
‘The backyard is superb – nice for entertaining because it’s so secluded,’ says Frances. ‘It truly is like dwelling in a vacation residence all yr spherical! And it’s a wonderful place to deliver up a household.’
The couple are planning to maneuver to allow them to be nearer to their grown-up youngsters and grandkids, as mockingly they've all now moved to the nation.
‘We're winding right down to retire and ideally we’d love a bit pied-à-terre right here and a spot overseas,’ says Frances.
When you’ve had the very best of each worlds, why wouldn’t you search for
it once more!
Ash Tree Cottage is on sale for £2million through Knight Frank.
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