9 minute read
Picture Perfect
When Fiona White embarked on her rural idyll, she wasn’t alone in falling for the charms of a traditional Picture thatched roof
Perfect
EXTERIOR From the thatched roof to the flintstone wall and picket gate, this Grade II listed property in Sussex has all the classic features of a traditional English country cottage
HOME TRUTHS
LOCATION:
Near Chichester, West Sussex
THE OWNER:
Fiona White, a retired local government manager and her Persian cat, Princess Marmalade
THE PROPERTY:
A grade II listed cottage that was originally two separate dwellings, built in the 1500s
ROOMS:
Sitting room, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms, bathroom
Fiona White’s love affair with Sussex began 30 years ago when she was still living in her native Scotland. “Back then I had a collection of ornaments called Sussex Cottages but had no idea where it was!” she remembers. “I certainly never dreamed of living there or owning a picture-perfect thatched cottage with roses around the door. But when I saw Meadow Cottage while passing an estate agent’s window, I fell in love with it immediately and was desperate to buy it.”
When ill health forced Fiona to give up her full-time career as a senior manager in local government, she wanted to invest her pension in “a home that I could enjoy.” The cosy two bedroom cottage suited her perfectly though, being on a busy road, the location was something of a compromise. One of the first changes she made was to install secondary glazing in the listed building which “cuts out road noise and improves
insulation without detracting from the appearance of the traditional windows.”
Fortunately for Fiona, there was little else that needed doing to the cottage, as the interior had already been sympathetically renovated by the previous owners. “They had lavished all their love and attention on it,” she recalled. “The beams had been stripped back to give them a lighter feel, some of the stone and brickwork exposed, the old bread oven had been restored and the fireplaces opened up with two wood burning stoves installed.” The most significant improvement, however, was the two-storey extension added at Fiona’s home is in a run of three cottages, two of which were knocked into one to create Meadow Cottage some years ago
SITTING ROOM On the coffee table a vase of fresh flowers from Fiona’s garden stands next to her favourite ornament, a gift from colleagues when she left work. Along with the flowers, appliqué cushions add a hint of pink to the blue and cream colour scheme
DINING ROOM With space at a premium, Fiona was lucky to squeeze in a much loved family heirloom, her upright piano beside the steep staircase that leads to her first floor bedroom “My dining suite in a distressed oak/duck egg blue finish which is a perfect fit for the space in my dining room and came from a local garden centre.”
KITCHEN The recently built kitchen extension has been given a contemporary treatment with sleek walnut units, stainless steel appliances and metallic mosaic tiles. In fact, the only traditional features are the butler’s sink and tap!
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the rear of the building, which created a spacious modern kitchen and a luxurious bathroom upstairs. In contrast with the existing rooms, these are both totally contemporary in style – the kitchen sleek and streamlined in walnut and stainless steel, the bathroom designer hotel style with its spa bath and marble countertop basin.
There was still plenty of opportunity for Fiona to put her own stamp on her new home and she admitted she “had great fun with the interior design, creating what my friends tease me is ‘duck egg heaven’.” The colour theme began with the sofas and silk curtains in the sitting room that came from her previous home and continued when she invested in a new dining suite with plush velvet curtains to match. Upstairs she went for more girly pink, with rose-strewn bedding and curtains complementing her romantic looking painted bedroom furniture. With fitted carpet in a pale shade of sand and the walls throughout painted creamy white, Fiona has helped to create a lighter feel and maintain a sense of space in the cottage’s small, low-ceilinged rooms.
But perhaps her greatest achievement is the beautiful cottage garden she created in a mere eighteen months from the bramble-infested overgrown plot she took on with the house. With the help of a landscape gardener friend,
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The key to creating a sense of space in a small house is to keep the background light and neutral and overlay it with a simple colour palette of just one or two contrasting shades. Follow it through from room to room for a feeling of continuity.
DINING ROOM Purchased specially for her new home, Fiona’s French farmhouse style furniture is a perfect fit in the dining room with its low-beamed ceiling and rustic looking stone floor. She added plush velvet drapes to create a more sumptuous look, and her delightful plaid and thistle patterned tableware is a reminder of her Scottish roots
“I really like the way you can mix the contemporary with the old to bring a modern twist to a period home without losing any of its character.”
MASTER BEDROOM Fiona chose her aptly named Amore bedroom suite to create a look of ‘romantic luxury’ in her own room and combined it with pink floral bedding and curtains for a feminine finishing touch
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The most significant improvement was the two-storey extension added at the rear of the building
BATHROOM A new addition to the cottage is the impressive bathroom designed in the style of a boutique hotel by the previous owner. “It has all you could wish for in contemporary luxury” says Fiona who specialises in cottage gardens, she transformed the rear garden with herbaceous borders brimming with traditional favourites such as alliums, foxgloves and penstemon, adding tall thistles (Cardoon) to bring a touch of Scotland to the garden. A rustic style pergola was planted with wisteria, clematis, fragrant roses and honeysuckle and a new patio provides a seating area in full sun, from where Fiona can look back and “enjoy the beauty of the thatch.” At the front of the house, she planted a beech hedge for year-round interest, a lavender path leading to the door and pink climbing roses to “complete the rural idyll.”
Sandwiched between historic Chichester and the Blue Flag beach
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GARDEN Fiona loves looking back at the view of her idyllic cottage from the newly installed sun trap patio at the bottom of the garden. The garden was designed with the help of a landscape gardener friend
The front garden has been transformed with a winding lavender path, pink geranium planted baskets and Times Past and Albertine roses growing round the door Her greatest achievement is the beautiful cottage garden she created from the bramble-infested overgrown plot she took on with the house
at West Wittering, Fiona’s home is in a run of three cottages, two of which were knocked into one to create Meadow Cottage some years ago. As a result, there are still two staircases in place, though the steep one leading from the dining room up to a tiny door into her bedroom is rarely used. On the upstairs landing, where the original wall has been removed, the supporting beam is so low, that even Fiona, who’s not very tall, has to stoop to get to her bedroom! It all adds to the character of the charming cottage which she still describes as “a dream.” “I have a very blessed life!” she concluded. l
