Welcome to my home

“It’s

the perfect escape to enjoy with the people we love. That was our plan at the start and I really think

it” we’ve achieved

Vicky White lives here with her husband Chris Ling and their one-yearold son, Rupert. Vicky owns a home and lifestyle brand, and Chris is a wealth manager.

THE PROPERTY

A five-bedroom 18th-century cottage in Bacton, on the Norfolk coast.

THE VALUE

They bought it in May 2017 for £225,000; now worth over £500,000.

Vicky White and Chris Ling have a longstanding affinity with Norfolk. It is where they got engaged and they’ve spent many holidays there. But it turned out that finding a suitable property proved to be harder than they expected.

After two purchases fell through, Vicky widened their search area and Eden Hall Cottage popped up. It was on a part of the Norfolk coastline they were unfamiliar with, but on a cold and wet day in 2016 they decided to view it.

‘The cottage was run-down and neglected, with rubbish everywhere and evidence of mice and rats. I didn’t want to touch anything to start with,’ says Vicky. The couple spotted lots of original features, such as the brick fireplaces, crying out to be restored to their former glory. ‘I felt it had good bones. It doesn’t look that big from outside but when you’re inside it’s huge.’

After exploring the area and visiting the local beach with their dog Bertie, they were hooked. ‘I was in no doubt about what a big project it was, but it felt right,’ says Vicky.

The builders had to take out the first floor, all the internal walls and ceiling upstairs when they discovered all the joists were rotten. ‘At one point we just had a shell consisting of the outside walls and the roof,’ says Vicky. There was an upside – it meant the upstairs could be reconfigured to create three bedrooms (one en suite) with vaulted ceilings and exposed beams, and a family bathroom. Downstairs, three small rooms were knocked into one large kitchen-diner. By the time Vicky, who co-owns lifestyle store Plum and Ashby (plumandashby. co.uk), had finished decorating, nearly a year had passed.

Now, though, the family are fully settled in. ‘We love being here in the summer with our families. The beach is just five minutes away. While we wanted lovely interiors, we also wanted it to be a practical space where we wouldn’t have to worry about children or dogs ruining the interiors,’ she says.