Client Stories: creative yet comfortable - arty homes for sale
From the studio window seat at Hillstreet Farmhouse, those seeking a moment of solace can take in the views that stretch across the valley. The bucolic scene, like an oil painting that changes with the weather and the light, is framed by the arched window and inspires the artist within – homeowner Flora Daneman.
The Georgian farmhouse that she shares with her husband Charlie and youngest daughters (9 and 10) – and with her older children when back from school and university, respectively – is where architecture, nature and art all meet in a warm, social setting.
Vibrant purple lavender borders the stone path up to the entrance while flowering wisteria and jasmine climb the symmetrical 18th century facade. The house, with six bedrooms and a collection of outbuildings, sits in the centre of the three-acres, with a rose garden, a walled garden, a small orchard, a paddock and a wildflower meadow. Through a box hedge arch, and down some stone steps, is the swimming pool, bordered by shrubbery.
The intertwined themes of nature and art continue inside the house. In the girls' room there's a hand painted wall mural, by Flora herself, of a woodland scene, with badgers sleeping at the base of the tree, and strategically placed bookshelves where the branches should be.
Underneath its whimsical beauty, the house is a practical and functional family home. There's a study and a games room (which doubles up as a self-contained apartment with a bathroom), underfloor heating and fibre broadband. It's a short stroll into the village and the train station – where a regular service runs into London Waterloo in under two hours.
Flora, from Putney, was drawn to the property 14 years ago when the family made their move out of London. It had been home to the equestrian artist Susan Crawford who has painted the likes of Red Rum and Desert Orchid and Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother and the King.
In fact, this corner of Wiltshire has become an artists' cluster. The house is within walking distance of Messums Wiltshire, a gallery and art centre in one of the largest restored Tithe barns in the country.
Art gallery owner Edward Horswell and his wife Nona are downsizing but hope to stay close by. They are parting with their five-bedroom, red brick townhouse in Chelsea, which opens out through French doors onto a communal garden, just moments from the King's Road.
In fact, this corner of Wiltshire has become an artists' cluster. The house is within walking distance of Messums Wiltshire, a gallery and art centre in one of the largest restored Tithe barns in the country.
Art gallery owner Edward Horswell and his wife Nona are downsizing but hope to stay close by. They are parting with their five-bedroom, red brick townhouse in Chelsea, which opens out through French doors onto a communal garden, just moments from the King's Road.
With both daughters now in their 20s, the couple are selling to help get them on the property ladder but plan to stay within the neighbourhood. "We're selling one house to buy three," says Edward, "but what goes around comes around and it's our turn to help."
Their family life has hugely benefitted from access to this peaceful London square garden – with the girls chasing out into the grounds after school to play with the other resident children. The house itself, spread over 2,702 sq ft (not including the basement and loft space) and four floors, is designed around a curving central staircase, a perfect spot for Edward and Nona's considerable art collection. They run Sladmore Gallery in St James's.
Despite their trade, Edward laughs at the idea they may select their next home based on ceiling heights and wall space – often a buying priority at the high end of the housing market. He takes a less pretentious approach to art in the home. They will find a place they love and fill it with art they love. Currently that includes The Horseman in the Wind, a bronze statue of Napoleon returning to France, sculpted by the French painter Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier in 1878, which sits proudly on the sideboard in the hallway. "Sculptures are easy to move around the house," he says.
The Horswell's Chelsea home at Sloane Court East is being marketed at £6,250,000.
Delbridge House – the beloved home of photographer and artist Perou and his wife Lucy, an interior designer – is exceptional by its vast spaces and soaring ceilings of up to 12ft. The Grade II listed Georgian building has lived through many iterations: it was a mansion built for Julius Shepherd, a member of the brewery dynasty Shepherd Neame, a grammar school and once housed a nightclub in the 43ft basement.
In the heart of Faversham, Kent, the home has been painstakingly restored by the parents-of-two boys, and each room is a tribute to their tastes and their story.
In the dining room, connected to the kitchen through a series of archways, is a giant photograph of Marilyn Manson – one of Perou's own. Furnished and decorated by his visionary wife, the house suits him as an artist, "My work tends to be measured in feet not inches," he says.
There is an oversized rocking horse chandelier in one of the six bedrooms, a neon pink upright pillar in the bar and a huge yellow and blue arched stained-glass window in the kitchen. The mirror ball – also in the kitchen – was too large to get through the door in their previous rental property.
However, this is not a series of exhibition spaces. This is a characterful family home with a real sense of fun and flow from room-to-room. Described by Perou as "opulent and eclectic", it's styled yet raw, curated yet comfortable. The sale is a wrench, Perou admits. "It is a creative decision. I don't want to go but I have to keep moving and take myself out of my comfortable zone and see the world in a different way," he says.
Delbridge House is on the market for £1,650,000.
Words: Anna White
Lead picture: Hillstreet Farmhouse
