CONCRETE CALM
INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS BRING A SURPRISING FEELING OF COMFORT TO THIS VICTORIAN COTTAGE NEAR HAY- ON-WYE
Rough concrete, gritty zinc and raw timber are usually the materials you’d find in an edgy loft conversion in east London, but Susannah Le Mesurier has taken the uber-chic industrial materials and reworked them into her Victorian home to evoke the warm soul of a country cottage – without the chintz.
“I’m drawn to interesting textures and grey is my favourite colour,” says Susannah, who has incorporated varying shades of the neutral tone throughout her home, “but this home is all about cosiness and calm.”
Her kitchen is filled with different textures from wellused wooden chopping boards and cupboard doors to smooth and sleek ceramic bowls and glassware, but the centrepiece is a concrete kitchen island, cast in three sections, then carefully assembled on site by her builder. “Concrete is so versatile and robust,” says Susannah. “People shy away from it, but it’s very suited to kitchens and I love how its tones deepen over time.”
CONTEMPORARY COTTAGEY
The mix of new and old in the kitchen, from her pristine white Aga to the vintage family-sized dining table for when her two grown-up sons Alex, 23, and Ben, 25, return home to visit, make this room a true heart of the house, while the use of steel and concrete bring it strikingly up to date.
Susannah and her husband David, who shuttles between the UK and Dubai where he runs a falcon breeding and research centre, had been looking for a period house in an away-from-it-all setting, but didn’t want anything too “cottagey”.
“Our last home had classic low ceilings, stone walls and beams,” explains Susannah.
“But here, the Victorian proportions felt refreshingly »
“I’M DRAWN TO INTERESTING TEXTURES AND GREY IS MY FAVOURITE COLOUR”
bright – and just right for a project that was going to go open-plan.”
They enlarged two doorways and added French doors to maximise the views of the Black Mountains, another big draw. And therein lies the key to Susannah’s skill in making concrete cosy. What would look edgy in east London is softened by the hues and textures of nature, whether that’s a jar of mottled feathers, milky white ceramics or layers of rumpled French linens.
SHADES OF GREY
In the living room a linen sofa sets the pewter-hued palette in this calm space. “In the summer I add colour with pink cushions,” says Susannah, “I get bored of brights, while monochrome really lasts.”
The woodburner – much needed at this time of year - serves as the focal point of the living room, as Susannah and David have so far held off hanging art over the mantelpiece. “I’ve come to appreciate the bareness of this room. It’s very relaxing,” adds Susannah.
Their metal display cabinet in the corner of the living space was salvaged from Cardiff University, but now holds a collection of weathered and blanched treasures from the natural world, which again softens the industrial past of the piece.
The ‘natural world’ theme continues upstairs where Susannah has given what could have been a stark white bedroom lots of texture by adding vintage French furniture and using branches found during her walks with her dog as a way to display her jewellery.
This home serves as a calm antidote to their busy life in Dubai, although, adds Susannah, “even there, I don’t do bling.” Their desert home echoes her fondness of hard concrete floors and smooth driftwood tones. “Well, except there are camels at the end of the garden instead of cows,” she laughs.