RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS
For Miranda and Edward Gore Browne, buying a 1930s rectory was an opportunity to fulfil a lifelong dream
This 1930s rectory in West Sussex, owned by a Bake Off star, has been given a Georgian-style treatment
Ihouse f an award existed for the most dramatic transformation of a
façade it would surely go to Miranda and Edward Gore Browne’s. ‘We simply couldn’t afford a Georgian property, so we decided to create a similar version with the ingredients at hand,’ says Miranda, who is well known by viewers of The Great British Bake Off for her inspirational ways with culinary ingredients. What viewers may not know is the couple’s talent for doing up houses, which she and her husband Edward have honed over the years.
GARDEN CHARM
She first spotted the house they currently own while out walking. ‘Honestly the house façade was red brick and downright ugly but the garden was huge, rambling and very promising,’ says Miranda. By chance, three years later, they discovered the house was for sale and, undeterred by the warren of small dark rooms inside, put in a successful bid.
The couple had already started a file collecting design ideas leafing through interior design magazines, web pages and books on Georgian architecture. Miranda says she owes a lot to Tom Freeborough, a local architect who more than anyone helped deliver their vision of reorientating the house by adding an extension with three tall arched Georgian windows and a door onto the garden. ‘The new kitchen-diner, now the most loved room in the house, has become the heart of my work life, and the focal point for our children, Thomas, now 13, Eleanor, 10 and Henry, 6,’ says Miranda.
Several elements, like the tumbled limestone floors were chosen to give the house the look and feel of an earlier date. Old wooden doors were sourced from a local reclamation company. What had been silently voted one of the most unattractive house facades in the village was gradually transformed. The red brickwork was rendered, a Georgian front door and a pretty porch installed and new rectangular sash windows were repositioned.
To further advance the authenticity of their 18th-century lookalike, Miranda blocked up a ‘window’ next to the front door. ‘Never a real window of course,’ she explains, ‘but a reminder of the window tax which forced some owners to block up a window to save tax back in the 18th century. It fools many of our friends.’
Having spent much of their budget on the builders and quality curtains and beds as well, Miranda worked her magic on the interiors with what was left. Car boot sales, flea markets and ebay became her most frequent places to shop. An eclectic mix of old adverts and paintings collected on their travels gives the home its cosy quirky character.
ART INSPIRATION
Some posters of cyclists express personal ambitions. ‘Edward is crazy about cycling and loves advertising signs,’ says Miranda. ‘We both love boats and the seaside, so we have a few nautical paintings. I am most thrilled with the painting of our view, by my artist friend Rachel Redfern and I’ve always had a secret desire to paint, so a few of my own hang in our bedrooms.’ In between Miranda’s tutorials, cooking and looking after the children, life at The Old Rectory is clearly busy, fulfilling and happy.