Inn GENIUS
A converted medieval pub in Kent has been transformed into a family home full of bold colour and quirky character
It was one of life’s tipping points that triggered the new home search for citydwellers Jessica and Darryl Clifton. “I had an all-consuming job as a broadcast agent and was on call the whole time. And we lived so close to the art college where Darryl is based that work was all we ever seemed to do,” Jessica explains. “Any break in business hours just blurred with normal everyday life.”
The pair realised it would be hard to change their ways while living in London and it suddenly felt the right time to leave. They had recently finished renovating their Camberwell home and were ready for a new project: they just didn’t know what – or where – that might be. “So we did the usual drive around the M25,” Jessica says. “We weren’t drawn to any particular area, but we both had a feel for the sort of house we would like. We must have been looking for about a year and offers on two separate houses fell through. It was such a disheartening time but then my mother suggested Faversham.”
It was an inspired suggestion. They liked the feel of this medieval market town and looked at several houses but again without much success. “It was Darryl who spotted this one,” Jessica says. “If I’m honest, it sounded like my idea of hell: low ceilings, dark beams, old pub – no, thank you! But when we walked through the door, we couldn’t believe it was this huge open space and could see how much potential a place like this could have.”
The pub, formerly The Castle Inn and one of the oldest in Kent, had been converted to residential use by the previous owner in the 1970s. “There hadn’t been much done structurally other than remove the bar areas. All the beams were exposed and it was gloomy and dark,” Jessica recalls. “The kitchen was pretty basic and dated and, as far as I could tell, all that had been done to the bedrooms was carpeting and the adding of pine doors.”
Overall, the property turned out to be structurally sound and just needed updating and rewiring. “We were happy to live with it for a while, but one thing that did need doing straightaway was the kitchen and that was our first job, six months after moving in,” Jessica says.
The kitchen is in the Georgian extension and the couple wanted cabinetry that felt true to this part of the house. “We couldn’t afford a bespoke kitchen, but fortunately Darryl knows a cabinet-maker, so we worked on a design together,” Jessica says. The unusual pink marble worktops, however, were a bit of a surprise addition. “I went to a stonemason in
“An open space like this can take things from different periods and still feel homely”
Deal to look at slabs and had slate in mind,” she continues. “But the mason had just returned from Spain and had cleared an amazing villa. Suddenly, I was thinking, ‘Oooh, pink marble! Why not?’
It was such a lucky and unique find.”
The rest of the home is, as Jessica would acknowledge, in a graceful state of gradual and gentle transformation. Paint colours are still in the process of being chosen, the well-used and inherited floor having regular updates with various rug layers, and furniture moves around the house as the family use it.
There are lots of happy finds dotted throughout that reflect Jessica’s eclectic style. “I’ve got a lot of stuff and sometimes things get hidden away and I forget about them,” she admits. “I am constantly digging things out and moving them around – Darryl calls it ‘knick-knack Tetris’! And why not? Just because you’ve planned or designed something to look a certain way doesn’t mean you can’t change things around – that way, you fall back in love with them.” And it is this kind of everyday re-styling that keeps the home fresh and seasonally evocative or gives room to grow as the family does so.
“Open-plan living can be messy and doesn’t necessarily work when you’re all trying to do your own thing,” Jessica admits. “But we’re fortunate to have such great spaces. One of us can be working at the desk, there can be someone lounging on the sofa reading a book, and there is the table if someone wants to do something else – there are always options.” Two of the living areas are either side of the entrance, plus there is a lower room that had been used as a dining room but which Jessica and Darryl use as a family room. “We spend quite a lot of downtime here and it’s really cosy when the fire is on,” she continues.
Jessica doesn’t subscribe to one particular interiors style. “I tend to like what I like, whether it’s a mid-century sofa or an antique ebonized cabinet,” she says. “And what’s nice about an open space like this is it can take things from different periods and it still feels homely.” With the pub interior in constant design flux, it seems to somehow mirror its earlier reincarnation as a convivial place of constant comings and goings. The interior now has a warm and inviting atmosphere and has become a welcoming backdrop for this busy, creative family.
Everyday re-styling keeps the home fresh and seasonally evocative