2019-08-01_25_Beautiful_Homes

kitchen

thecouplehada vastisland

made,addinga honedgranite

topfora high-endfinish.

UnitsfromJewson;fora similar

design,considerthePaloma,

from£3,984for 12 units.Try

thetallClockhousestoolin

Charcoal, £150, Garden Trading

terrace

balconieshavebeen

positionedallaroundthe

propertysothatthefabulous

riverviewscanbeenjoyedat

anytimeofdayorevening.

Ikea’sSjallandchairwith

armrestsinLightGrey/Dark

Grey, £55, would suit this space

landing

thiscleverdisplayismade

upofJane’sfather’soldraF

secondWorldWarmaps.

Theblackcormorantis

fromWhiteSailsgalleryin

Dartmouth;trytheArchipelago

highcormorantbirdwood

carving, £115, Interior Gifts

W

henit comesto

style,myhusband

MarkandI are

quitetraditional,’

saysJaneGreenasshegazesoutofthe

windowsofherhometoviewsofthe

R iverDartinDevonbeyond.‘But

havingdecidedtobuildourown

househere,it seemedsillytogofora

pasticheofanolderstyle:wedecided

wewouldbebraveinstead.’

Itwascourageousindeed.Jane’s

parentshadowneda houseonthe

samesitefor 35 years,butwhenthey

passedaway,thecouplewerefaced

witha dilemma– toupgradethetired

existingproperty,ortodemolishit to

makewayforsomethingnew.‘Inthe

end,wedecidedthatstartingagain

wasthebestway,’saysJane.‘We

wanteda homethatsuitedour

lifestylenow.Ourgrown-upsonand

daughterwereinagreement,though

I mustadmit,whenthedemolition

teamarrived,it wasn’teasy.’

Therewasexcitement,too,

though,notleastbecauseit meantthe

couplecouldinstigatesomeofthe

designprinciplestheyhadadmired

formanyyears.‘MarkwasintheR AF,

whichmeantwewereluckyenoughto

liveinSouthAfrica,’saysJane.‘We

lovedthemodernarchitecturethere,

withanemphasisonopenspace,an

inside-outqualityandplenty of light.’

makingplans

Thecoupleengagedlocalarchitect

LeeGuilfoyle– whohaddesigneda

neighbour’shousetheyadmired–

andtheyworkedtogethertobringthe

visiontolife.Oncethedesignwasin

place,it wassubmittedforplanning

permission:a majorworrywasthat

thecontemporarybuildwouldbetoo

visiblefromboththeriverandthe

oppositetownofDartmouth.‘Inthe

end,it wasallfairlystraightforward,’

saysJane.‘Andthefactthatwewere

buildinganenergy-efficient house

wasreallysupported.’

Onceapproved,thebuildbegan

inearnest.Thesiteis ona steepslope,

whichmeanstheentranceattheback

ofthehouseis ontheupperlevel:this

leadstoa glass-panelledwalkway,and

threeofthebedrooms,includingthe

mastersuite.Thedramaticheartof

the house is the atrium. There is also

25bh | coastal

80 | 25bHAUGUST 2019