Welcome to my home
“We hadn’t been looking to take on a project this big, but it was a real opportunity to make a house our own”
THE PROPERTY
A four-bedroom Victorian farmhouse near Ottery St Mary, Devon.
THE VALUE
About £600,000.
Having fallen for a quaint, red-brick Devon farmhouse, Emma Jaulin had a battle on her hands to persuade her husband Hendrik it would work for them. ‘His first impression was “No way!”’ she says. ‘He thought it was dark and cramped. Once we left, I started explaining how the ground floor could be opened up to bring in more light. By the time we got home, he was convinced. We’d seen nothing else with so much potential.’
The house had barely been touched for 20 years, and had tired decor and old-fashioned fixtures. Once Emma and Hendrik moved in, they stripped away the old carpets and wallpapers, and tackled the layers of old paint on the skirtings, dado and staircase. ‘We spent every day sanding and painting,’ says Emma. ‘Although it was summer, we didn’t relax in the sun even once. It was horrible, but we definitely learned a lot!’
They knocked through the kitchen and dining room, central passageway and sitting room to boost light levels and to create one multifunctional living space. ‘The window frames needed replacing and we wanted minimal frames and maximum glass,’ says Emma. ‘UPVC would have jarred with the exterior, so we went for aluminium. We swapped the two back windows for much taller shapes, which make the interior brighter.’
Now, with the interior finished, the couple are looking to the future. ‘We’re expecting our first child soon,’ says Emma, ‘and the open-plan layout may not work so well as our family grows. With that in mind, we’re planning to divide the room with a glass partition and sliding glass door between the dining and seating zones. It will give us separate spaces when we need them, without losing light or the open feel.’