St Lucia is THE place to switch off...
Sarah CroSS is an interior designer and married mother of five to oliver, 12; Jonny, ten; Eloise, eight; and harry and Lottie, five. The family lives in Cambridge and also have properties in anglesey and St Lucia. Sarah, 45, says: after a trying day juggling the demands of five children, I like to let my mind wander. It doesn’t have to go too far: just to the beaches of anglesey or the azure sea of St Lucia. and I can do that — and still be at home!
I got on the property ladder after I was
awarded financial compensation. I’d been badly injured in a hit-andrun accident in London in 1995.
The sum I received just about allowed us to put a deposit on our first property in West London. It was while I was renovating the flat, enjoying experimenting with fabrics and colours, that I realised I could earn a living from design and interiors.
I spent my 20s and 30s getting married and having children. Yet during that time I was renovating our next home — another London flat. We sold up and moved to Cambridge in 2013, before our youngest child was born. Our detached home there is modern and practical with six bedrooms, an open-plan kitchen, dining room and living room, all painted in bright colours. It’s cosy, family chaos, but also big enough for us to all come together and have our own space, too.
I’ve been going to Anglesey on holiday since I was a child. It’s a really special area for me.
We bought our place there in the village of Rhoscolyn, in 2015. I think a family home is different from a holiday home. It took me a year to get it how I like it: now it’s a stunning New England beachstyle house which can sleep 12. It even has a hot tub. I rent it out when we’re not there.
The St Lucia property was an obvious choice because it is somewhere we have loved going and meeting friends for years.
With guaranteed sunshine, it’s also a place where my husband can truly switch off.
There was land for sale in 2016, so we went for it. It took a year to build our four-bedroom, fourbathroom home.
The children all have their favourite place. As for me, wherever my family is is where I want to be at that moment.