theirobsessionwithit thatwhentheydiscoveredthe
farmhousewasstillonthemarket,theyswappedtheir
Londonhousefora flat,andusedthedifference in
pricetobuythefarmhouseoftheirdreams.
Theydidn’tinitiallyappreciatethescaleofthe
restorationprojectaheadofthem,butasAndrew’s
backgroundis inbuildingandpropertymaintenanceand
Francesis aninteriorsenthusiastandbrilliantorganiser,
theyfeltnaivelyconfident.‘Thehousewaspaintedina
spectrumofpsychedeliccoloursandtherewereseven
bedrooms,spreadoverthreefloors,sotherewashuge
potential,’Francessays.‘Initiallywethoughtit wouldjust
bea caseofrepaintingwalls,butwesoondiscoveredthe
boilerneededreplacing,thechimneysneededrebuilding,
thewindowsrattledandnoneofthefloorswerestraight.’
Tocompoundtheirproblems,theyweren’tallowedto
installdouble-glazingaccordingtoconservationrules.
Thecouple’smostpressingissuewasa lackoflight
inthekitchen,theoldestpartofthehouse– withoutany
connectiontothegarden,it feltdarkandisolated.‘The
househadbeeninthehandsofmultiplegenerationsof
thesamefarmingfamilywhoprobablydidn’twanttobe
remindedoftheirplaceofwork.I guesstheydeliberately
closed off the kitchen, but we felt cut off and missed the>Breakfast
roomThefamily
spendmostoftheir
timehere.Tablecloth
fabric, Cath KidstonGardenWithsucha largelawn,
FrancesandAndrewdecided
togetsomesheeptokeepit
nicely mown for them!
someRseT faRmhouse