Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2026 i 25 Beautiful Homes

PROJECT DETAILS DESIGNER Amelia McNeil (ameliamcneil.com) PROPERTY A Victorian end-of-terrace with six bedrooms WORK Room design as part of a larger renovation LOCATION West London New life was breathed into this Victorian home when the owners commissioned interior designer Amelia McNeil to showcase colour and pattern. ‘The sitting room was to be used for entertaining, but also everyday living,’ says Amelia. 1 SIZE & SCALE A side return increased the width of the house and benefited this room. Because of the size of the space, layout and furniture were key. ‘Despite the scale of the room, the couple wanted it to feel cosy. We were determined to ensure the space was used,’ says Amelia. Generous sofas provide plenty of seating, as well as helping to fill the room, while an…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY 18th-century home comprising a former barn and workers’ cottages, all of which are Grade II-listed ROOMS Open-plan kitchen-diner and sitting room, garden room, snug, TV room, utility room, cloakroom, two offices, five bedrooms, three bathrooms LOCATION Wiltshire When the village carol singers drop by the Cotswolds home of Emma and John Sims-Hilditch, they are treated to mulled wine in the covered loggia, where candlelight flickers in hurricane lamps. ‘At this time of year, I love to think about how a house looks outside as well as inside,’ says Emma. ‘I’ll always put a Christmas tree by a window, for example, so visitors can see it as they arrive, and I like to place a lantern by the front door to offer a welcoming glow.’ The couple…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY 1540s Grade II-listed timber longhouse ROOMS Open-plan kitchen-diner/living area, five bedrooms, five bathrooms, self-contained outside party barn with kitchen LOCATION Suffolk For Harriet and Stevie Congdon, it was an unwitting ‘try before you buy’ situation that led to them securing their Suffolk house. The couple, founders of iced biscuit company Biscuiteers, were friends with the former owners, architects Sir Michael and Lady Patty Hopkins and frequently stayed as guests. ‘Michael had bought the property from the church in the 1960s and created the open-plan space that exists today,’ says Harriet. ‘We weren’t really looking for a house at the time, it was just serendipity that Michael and Patty moved to another place and we made a spontaneous decision to make it ours.’ The house was structurally…

PROJECT DETAILS OWNERS Yasha Gosrani lives here with her partner David and their seven-year-old son PROPERTY 1930s house WORK New kitchen LOCATION East Sussex When Yasha moved to her new home, she found the interior uninspiring. The kitchen looked impressive in the estate agent’s photos, but it hadn’t been designed with a young family in mind. ‘There wasn’t enough storage and everything felt very plain,’ she says. 1 TAKING ON THE CHALLENGE ‘For such a big room, there wasn’t much kitchen to speak of,’ says Yasha. ‘Limited counter space made prep a challenge, mealtimes felt stressful and laundry often piled up. The uPVC white plastic doors leading to the garden were cold and unwelcoming and blocked much of the view to the garden. After two years of trying to make…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTYConverted barn, dating to the early 1800s ROOMSSitting room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, mezzanine comprising a TV area plus two sleeping areas LOCATIONCharente, France ln the Charente home of Amandine and Jules Fernandez Berthon, Christmas centres on the dining table, where the family gathers to enjoy festive dishes served on heirloom porcelain once belonging to Amandine’s grandmother. ‘This house is full of things that remind us of our families, along with traditions that take us straight back to childhood,’ says Amandine. ‘On Christmas Day, for instance, we always have an afternoon tea of brioches and thick hot chocolate – a custom from southwestern France passed down from my grandmother.’ Set in idyllic countryside, the house is just 15 kilometres from the couple’s main residence in a town close…

‘WE’VE USED WOOD EXTENSIVELY TO CREATE A HARMONIOUS, NATURAL SCHEME THAT FLOWS FROM SPACE TO SPACE’ HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTYAlpine chalet ROOMSSitting room, TV room, kitchen, dining area, cloakroom, four bedrooms, four bathrooms LOCATION French Alps Some might say Courchevel and Verbier have more cachet, but the tiny ski town of Megève in the French Alps gamely holds its own against its glitzy neighbours. Its fairy tale ski trails, Michelin-starred restaurants and chic shopping parades were part of the appeal to the ski-obsessed English couple and their family, who in 2007 bought a ramshackle, wooden farmhouse here: a second home that they knocked into basic shape and enjoyed across many winters, and summers, before inviting interior architect, Hélène Roux, of Les Montagnardes, to take on the job of full renovation.…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY An early 20th-century cottage ROOMS Kitchen/dining room, boot/utility room, cloakroom, playroom, sitting room, family room, five bedrooms, four bathrooms LOCATION Cotswolds CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE PROPERTY AND HOW IT LOOKED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PROJECT? With its Cotswold stone exterior and fascinating history, the house had undeniable charm. It had originally been built in 1919 as two farmworkers’ cottages but had been patched together over time. The property offered a generous footprint but had interiors that lacked warmth and cohesion. WHAT WERE THE CLIENTS’ PRIORITIES? They were a married couple with two young girls and a newborn by the time they moved in. Midway through the project, a guest bedroom was reimagined as a nursery following their exciting news. They wanted to draw inspiration from…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A double-fronted detached house built in 1953 ROOMS Sitting room, family room, dining room, kitchen, dressing room, cloakroom, gym, den, laundry room, five bedrooms, four bathrooms LOCATION Washington, DC ‘This was about creating a serene home that flowed seamlessly yet had a vibrant and funky edge’ One minute Lauren and Nick Penneys were happily ensconced in New York City, the next they had decided to move to Washington, DC, bought a house and got married. ‘It actually took two weeks to do all those things, I am quite spontaneous for better or worse,’ laughs Lauren who was relocating for work with her tech company. She and lawyer Nick were able to buy a detached, three-storey, 1953-built house in a historic area of Washington, ‘a village within…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Four-storey terraced townhouse ROOMS Sitting room, snug, dining area, kitchen, office, cloakroom, three bedrooms, two bathrooms LOCATION London WHY DID YOUR CLIENT BUY THIS HOUSE? The owner, a young professional and first-time buyer, used a property search agent to help find the right home in 2021. Her brief was clear: a stylish, well-connected area with a vibrant social scene, excellent restaurants and the sort of atmosphere that felt young yet established. Notting Hill delivered all of the above. HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? We’d met the client’s mother during a project in Thailand, while working on a neighbouring property. A few years later she asked us to take on her daughter’s new London home. CAN YOU OUTLINE THE OWNER’S BRIEF? Contemporary, tactile and…

PROJECT DETAILS DESIGNER Nicky Dobree (nickydobree.com) PROPERTY A detached Victorian villa with seven bedrooms WORK Room design as part of a larger renovation LOCATION South London Interior designer Nicky Dobree was enlisted to work on this full property renovation, transforming a Victorian villa into the perfect home for a family with four children. The main bedroom was turned into a calming sanctuary, complete with a walk-in dressing room and en suite. ‘It’s timeless and elegant,’ says Nicky. 1 SERENE SANCTUARY The main suite leads off the landing, and the entrance to the bedroom is through double doors off the dressing room, giving a sense of privacy and luxury. The room is layered around the calming palette of pale blue, one of the client’s favourite colours. ‘We worked within the tonal…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY City apartment ROOMS Sitting room/dining area, kitchen, study, cloakroom, utility room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, dressing room, loggia LOCATION Philadelphia There is nothing that jars in this Philadelphia apartment. From the silky plaster walls to the plush handcrafted rugs; the cool metal doors to the tactile timbers and stones, every material in the home has been carefully considered to create a soothing aesthetic that belies its urban location. ‘The owner asked us to design a sanctuary from the city, within the city,’ recalls interior designer Alexii Friedman of Studio Friedman, who worked with Harris Ford of architectural practice Digsau to produce this refined home. She adds, ‘The ground floor of the building houses one of the neighbourhood’s buzziest restaurants, but you step into this flat and…

PROJECT DETAILS DESIGNER Millie Cupit, Krantz Designs (krantzdesigns.co.uk) PROPERTY New-build detached house WORK Installation of new kitchen LOCATION Oxfordshire Keen to build their dream home, a couple bought a dated bungalow on a large plot in a pretty village. ‘They replaced it with a contemporary new build,’ says Millie Cupit, senior designer at Krantz Designs, who was commissioned to create an equally modern kitchen for the property. 1 SETTING THE STYLE As part of a large, open-plan living and dining space, the kitchen was to be an inviting hub in their five-bedroom home, designed specifically to suit the couple’s love of both cooking and socialising. ‘The house has a clean-lined Scandinavian feel throughout with lots of light oak,’ says Millie. ‘The brief was to create a stunning kitchen, as part…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Former fisherman’s cottage dating back to circa 1800 ROOMS Living room, open-plan kitchen-dining room, two bedrooms, bathroom LOCATION Mousehole, Cornwall While holidaying in the pretty Cornish coastal village of Mousehole, Oliver and Laura Brown chanced upon an enchanting cottage with a For Sale sign attached. ‘We had been visiting Mousehole for many years and had always dreamed of having a home by the sea,’ says Oliver. ‘On a trip back in 2021, we noticed this beautiful cottage for sale on the seafront. We went for a viewing and knew within seconds of walking through the door that it was perfect for us.’ As soon as the house was theirs, the couple began transforming it, opting for a characterful but easy-to-live-with vibe throughout, offset with a few…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Oak frame new build ROOMS Open-plan living area, kitchen, four bedrooms, three bathrooms LOCATION Essex Katy and Alan Pateman found themselves unexpectedly taking on a self-build after a sudden move from their previous home due to problems with neighbours. After temporarily staying with friends in a pretty village on the Blackwater Estuary, they found a plot. But it was in a conservation area with a history of planning refusals and lapsed planning for a specific design. ‘Approval had been given for a two-bedroom timber frame cottage, designed to look old with white weatherboarding,’ Katy explains. ‘Alan and I liked the look of it but were very unsure if a self-build project was for us – we are a couple who didn’t even do DIY!’ While debating…