18 April 3, 2022The Sunday Times
Home
register and a plan for the
adjoining property from the
Land Registry (£3 each).
To have a claim
for adverse possession,
the neighbour would have
to demonstrate factual
possession of the land for a
minimum period of ten years
along with intention to possess
the land. If the neighbour has
not used the land for more
than ten years and the land is
contained wholly within your
son’s title, your son should
notify the neighbour that the
land is owned by him. He
should enclose a copy of the
register and plan showing
the extent of the boundaries
and notify the neighbour that
he does not consent to his
using the land, with
immediate effect.
This must be done as soon
as possible, and in writing, to
stop the clock from ticking in
relation to the ten-year limit.
He could ask the neighbour
to reinstate the land to how
it was originally, since the
paving is unauthorised. He
should contact the estate
agency through which the
adjoining property is being
sold and alert it to the fact that
the land it is referring to as
being in the neighbour’s
title is in fact registered to
him and ask it to immediately
remove reference from the
sales particulars.
Should the neighbour
make an adverse possession
application, the Land Registry
would provide a copy to
your son and he would have
the opportunity to object
to the application.Linda Kirk, director at Adkirk
Law. Send questions to
homehelp@sunday-
times.co.uk. Advice given
without responsibilityCAN A
NEIGHBOUR
CLAIM
ADVERSE
POSSESSION OF
MY SON’S LAND?Q
My son has
bought a property
in a modern
development with complex
boundaries. A small grass
area belonging to my son’s
property in front of the
adjoining owner’s house
has been block-paved by
the adjoining owner. It is
used, combined with the
adjoining owner’s land, as
an additional parking space
for the property next door.
My son bought the
property in August last
year. We think the block
paving was laid some time
after February 2017. The
adjoining owner has put
his property up for sale,
and in the sales particulars
indicates the possession of
said parking space. Is this
an adverse possession issue?
What actions might be
available to my son to
protect his property
rights? His neighbour
has not wanted to engage
when the matter has
been raised verbally.
PatA
What a headache — and it’s
more common than you’d
expect. First, your son must
check when the neighbour
commenced using the
land. Verifying when the
neighbour bought his
property should provide
clarity over the earliest
possible date.
Your son should check the
extent of the neighbour’s land
to ensure it falls completely
within his own title by
requesting office copies of theHOME
HELP
READERS’ CLINIC
HOW CAN I SAFELY REMOVE LIMESCALE FROM
INSIDE A FLASK?
Michael DewaneHalf a teaspoon
of bicarbonate
of soda and a
splash of white
vinegar. When
it stops fizzing,
rinse. The flask will
be bright and sparkling.
Mavis, SouthamptonFill the flask with half hot
water and half white vinegar.
Leave to cool and descale.
Rinse out several times until
the water runs clear of all
limescale. Use a bottle
brush/toothbrush to remove
any stubborn deposits.
Christine, LondonReader’s tip of the week
To the reader whose fitted
sheets come off. It’s
incredible how awful fitted
sheets are in the UK. Webought ours from
Target in the US
(own brand).
They have four
ribs of gripping
elastic stitched
into the corners.
They never
come off.
John Darlington,
East LothianFUTURE QUESTIONS
lFor years our home
has been infested with
very small moths. We have
tried several products
without success. Any
recommendations?
lHow do I clean the black
deposit from the soleplate
of my iron?Send tips and questions to
homehelp@sunday-
times.co.uk. Advice given
without responsibilityW
e moved from
Denver to Seattle,
Washington, in the
Pacific Northwest,
because of my
husband’s job. He’s a physician and
came to join the Infectious Disease
Fellowship Program at the University
of Washington School of Medicine.
We’d only been in Seattle two weeks
before we said, “We’re home.”Why Seattle?
I enjoyed living in Denver but I always
felt I could see too much sky. I grew up
in New England, outside New York
City, where there are more trees and
hills. The flat landscape in Denver felt
alien to me. Seattle, with its hills and
water, felt right.What attracted you to your home?
It’s a Craftsman-style [an American
take on the Arts and Crafts
movement] house. It looks old but it’s
actually a new-build in a traditional
style, which we prefer. There is lots
of crown moulding and lovely
woodworking details.Where did you grow up?
I spent my childhood in a one-level
condominium complex in New
England with a shared outdoor space.
When my parents divorced my two
sisters and I lived primarily with my
mother, but we spent our summers
in California with my father.When did you start writing?
I was completing my senior year in
art history at Harvard University. I
didn’t know what to do with my
degree so I applied for medical
school. This required two additional
years of study just to qualify, so I
amused myself in my downtime by
writing romantic novels.ROBERTO FILHO; NETFLIX/SPLASH NEWSTIME AND SPACE THE WAY WE LIVE NOW
JULIA QUINN
The Bridgerton author on how the sexy
series bought her a house by the sea
Two years later, the same month I
was offered a place at Yale School of
Medicine, my agent told me that my
first two books were the subject of a
fierce bidding war between two
publishing houses.
In 2017 I was sitting in Starbucks in
Seattle when I got another
momentous call from my agent telling
me that the TV producer Shonda
Rhimes was interested in buying the
rights to my Bridgerton novels.How would you describe the
Bridgerton aesthetic?
Everything in the show is pretty much
of Regency times but it’s ramped up
and more colourful. Will Hughes-
Jones, the production designer, took
me on a tour of the set in the giant
soundstage. It was fascinating to hear
about everything that went into the
look. The Bridgertons are dressed in a
blue and lavender colour palette; the
Featheringtons in citrus tones. This is
also reflected in the interior decor.How did the huge success of the
show affect your life?
It was surreal because Bridgerton
entered the cultural zeitgeist.
Suddenly it was being mentioned
everywhere — in a political cartoon, in
a late-night host’s monologue. As a
result of its success we bought a house
on the Washington coast. It’s on a bluff
with a 180-degree view of the ocean.
It’s an income property and vacation
house but we bought it primarily
because we wanted to share our good
fortune with our loved ones. My father
and stepmother loved staying there.
A year and a half after the show
launched, my father’s car was hit
from behind by a large pick-up truck
driven by a drunk driver and he was
pushed into the car in front. My father
and younger sister died at the scene.
My brother-in-law passed away five
months later. My stepmother was
also in the car and she is a walking,
talking miracle.
I have been trying to focus on how
grateful I am that they were able to
experience some of the success of
Bridgerton with me. My father was a
Hollywood screenwriter for a long
time. This was his world; he could not
have been more thrilled. I would call
him and say, “Guess where I’m being
translated now?” He loved guessing
which obscure country it was. It was
a strange year of abundance and loss.
Interview by Angela WintleThe Viscount Who Loved Me
(Bridgerton book two) by Julia Quinn
is published by Piatkus at £8.99Top: Bridgerton’s Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor. Above, from left:
the ‘book nook’ at Quinn’s Seattle home; the view from her coastal home