Not too long ago the New Zealand-born, London-based designer Cassandra Ellis despatched a observe from throughout the pond: She’d accomplished a undertaking in East Sussex, not removed from her redone flint barn however “a very completely different colour palette,” she wrote. And since it is a designer who usually describes bodily areas as poetry (see Expert Advice: Developing Style with Designer Cassandra Ellis), I used to be, as at all times, intrigued.
The home is Properly Home, a historic Georgian constructing on a cobblestone road available in the market city of Lewes. The construction dates to round 1640, with timber framing and a stone basis taken from the ruins of Lewes Monastery, however it was dilapidated when Cassandra discovered it. “The earlier proprietor had been right here for 50 years, and the home hadn’t been touched for about 43 of these,” she instructed Inigo, the UK actual property web site. “It appeared like a pub from the Nineteen Seventies.”
Cassandra and her accomplice, Ed, launched into a mild however thorough and exacting renovation, eradicating and changing your complete roof, re-plumbing, re-wiring, re-plastering, insulating, swapping in new-old home windows, hand-scrubbing the flooring with wire brushes, and updating for climate and fashionable occasions.
My favourite factor in regards to the undertaking simply may be the palette Cassandra talked about, the interiors painted in wealthy, nuanced, darkish tones. “It was such a particular second in time for me,” says Cassandra of selecting them. “I didn’t understand (till virtually too late) that I had pneumonia. I simply thought I used to be overwhelmed from juggling too many issues. For me, when life is an excessive amount of, I at all times retreat to artwork and books and phrases (and the Monetary Instances), and so the palette got here from this.” Lots of the hues are from Cassandra’s personal Atelier Ellis paint assortment, This Stilling That I Love, a reputation that provides a touch to the home’s impact.
“When folks go to the cottage, there’s normally real emotion by the point they get to the highest,” says Cassandra. “It’s not the fanciest home, but when it makes folks really feel, then I’ve achieved what I feel is true.”
Keep a second and have a look.
Pictures through Inigo, courtesy of Cassandra Ellis.
