The colours of Christmas

Buying a pocket-size thatched cottage in need of major repairs was a brave move for Alison and Carl Cooper, but one they’ve turned into a big success

This fairytale thatched cottage is the perfect setting for the Coopers’ Christmas celebrations

Discover how to add wall panelling in your rooms on page 73

With the Franco Belge stove lit, and the Laura Ashley chairs and footstool pulled up close, the living room is all set for a comfy winter evening. French limestone flooring from White Hall is topped with a sisal rug from KC Carpets. On the tree are red and gold baubles from Fortnum & Mason, and gold and cream baubles and a star from Cox & Cox. The gift wrap is from Hobbycraft. Alison’s mother Judith made the garland. The panelling is painted in Farrow & Ball’s Mole’s Breath. The wall lights are from Jim Lawrence

For the new owners of Cobweb Cottage, spiders were the least of their problems. Crumbling timbers and limited space were far bigger concerns. The tiny cottage, measuring just 16 square feet, had belonged to the same people since the early 1950s and little had been done since. A galley kitchen and basic bathroom were shoehorned into the sole downstairs room, while the bedrooms were part open to the Worcestershire skies through a thatch that was long overdue attention. When the two elderly owners passed away, the cottage was put up for auction. Carl and Alison viewed it and were smitten. ‘It was completely charming even though it was falling apart,’ says Alison. ‘It was tiny, beautiful and totally unspoilt, with an old cottage garden. One of the things we loved is that there’s nothing in the surroundings from this century, apart from the occasional telegraph pole.’

Straight after their winning bid the couple went to see exactly what they had bought. ‘In the middle of all this land, with sheep in the next field and views of the Malvern Hills, we knew it was a special place and that we could do something good with it,’ recalls Carl. ‘We bought it without even knowing whether we’d get planning permission. It was a real leap of faith – but then we’ve always been a bit gung ho, or at least I have,’ he laughs.

The couple rented a house nearby and began to plan how to turn the cottage into a liveable home. ‘The first architect told us we wouldn’t get permission for anything,’ says Carl. ‘But then we called in Alan Simcox from Nick Joyce Architects, who the surrounding Spetchley Estate uses, thinking that he would know what was possible in the area. I’d done my own drawings of exactly what we wanted so his finished plans were an architect’s translation of my ideas,’ he adds. They submitted the plans and prepared to do battle.

There was no battle, just a long wait, but finally Carl and Alison heard that their application was successful and geared up for the build. Carl took ‘gearing up’ literally, buying a digger on Ebay and bringing it home on a trailer. ‘The first time I used it I cut through a water pipe and got so much stick from the builders!’ Carl project managed the build, and helped out, but admits that he ‘tended to get the duff jobs!’ At the Homebuilding & Renovating Show when they told thatcher Grant Batchelor that their build involved three thatches – the original house, the kitchen extension, and a guest annexe – he said: ‘You’re my new best friends.’ And after 12 weeks with Grant on site, Alison and Carl do consider him a friend. One day a severe reaction to a wasp sting while up on the roof caused Grant to be rushed to hospital. ‘By the time I got back from the chemist’s with antihistamine he’d been carted off in an ambulance,’ says Carl. ‘Four hours later and full of adrenaline, he was back here discussing the next stage of the job. We sent him home!’

There was plenty of drama early on, too. ‘On day two, Paul Wood our builder phoned to say the cottage needed underpinning. The timbers were rotten up to one-and-a-half metres, so it all had to be acropropped and the sole plate replaced,’ says Carl. ‘Days later he asked me for a weather forecast before he started work as the cottage was going to be so heavily propped up that if the wind blew the wrong way, the whole thing would come down, as it was exposed on two sides and would act like a sail.’

The Coopers were keen to preserve as much of the original building as they could - ‘without being silly about it,’ explains Carl. ‘Anything we replaced, we used like for like, using traditional methods. A new sole plate was constructed from air-dried English oak, hand cut on our driveway, with the pegs to secure the timbers created from the offcuts.’

Alison and Carl’s home slowly took shape. The cottage first, then the kitchen extension, and finally the guest annexe. Carl had been collecting inspiration for the interiors since the auction in August 2012. ‘The living room dictated its own décor,’ he says, and the deep red paint and grey panelled walls complement the old timbers perfectly. The room lends itself well to chilly winter evenings in front of the wood-burner.

Christmas Day will start with a dog walk and leisurely preparations for a late dinner with family and friends. ‘We’ll set up the table in the living room, where it’s so atmospheric with the tree, and move the armchairs into the kitchen to create a sociable space for the day,’ says Alison. No doubt the festive guests will be full of admiration for both rooms – the airy kitchen and the cosy living room, with all the colours of Christmas.

Carl and Alison’s Tudor cottage is set in a Conservation Area with views of the Malvern Hills. The couple chose local firm

TPW Construction, who had to rebuild it from the ground up as the timbers were rotten. Master thatcher Grant Batchelor rethatched the roof and created the thatch pheasant

Above: Leading straight into the living room, the front door, like all the doors in the cottage, was made from the old floorboards, which were salvaged when the cottage was rebuilt. The sideboard is an antique and the framed canvas is by Roy Fairchild-woodard. The walls are painted in Laura Ashley’s Summer Pudding. For a similar curtain fabric, try Ian Mankin Left: The wooden armchair was a gift from Alison’s parents, and the chest is from a Ludlow antiques shop. An assortment of vintage decorations and a Father Christmas from Fortnum & Mason hang in the window

Left: In the kitchen extension, glass panels give a view of the garden and Malvern Hills beyond. All the windows and doors were made by Prospect Joinery. The guest annexe is just visible through the window. A faux European Silver Fir Candlelit LED 6ft tree from Balsam Hill is decorated with baubles from Cox & Cox. Two Lancaster chairs from Laura Ashley flank the Franco

Belge stove, and above is a luxury Cornish wreath, from Dobbies.

The dining table is from a Ludlow antiques shop. For similar rattan chairs, try Maisons du Monde. A Bosch induction hob and single oven are set into the granite-topped island; on top is a handmade Christmas pudding from Figgy’s Right: The couple brought the Aga from their previous home. Across the mantelpiece is a luxury Cornish garland from Dobbies. The pendant lights are from Jim Lawrence

Above: The sink and kitchen units are from Pineland. The blind in Clarke & Clarke’s Baa Baa and Regatta Stripe, Peony, was made by Sunflower Furnishings