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COMFORT & JOY A quaint thatched cottage offers a warm embrace for the festivities and beyond.
Comfort & JOY A quirky, timber-framed, 17th-century thatched cottage offers a warm embrace to all who cross its threshold during the festivities and beyond
FEATURE & STYLING NAOMI JONES PHOTOGRAPHY ROBERT SANDERSON
The Woodhouse black and white check cloth from Tori Murphy, layered with red placemats and lots of foliage, strikes the right festive balance. Walls are painted in Clunch by Farrow & Ball. Festive foliage is by Flowers and Lifestyle by Margot. The food is by Lucy Hoyle. The portrait painting is by Muriel Pemberton.
The focal point of the kitchen is the Aga, which came with the house and provides a handy rail to hang Tori Murphy’s Scallop Stripe tea towel and oven gloves. The handmade kitchen units are painted in Old White by Farrow & Ball.
“Stepping inside an old, thatched cottage is like being enveloped in a wonderful warm embrace,” says former actress, lifestyle writer and stylist Rebecca Lovatt of her Grade II listed home. She shares the three-bedroom cottage, which dates back to 1650, with her husband Jamie and their two children, Verity, 10, and Freddie, 12.
“Our house is especially cosy in winter,” Rebecca continues, “and during the festive season, it’s lovely to gather with family and friends around the Aga in the kitchen or the inglenook fireplace in the sitting room. We love hosting a Christmas carols party every year, with loads of candles, mulled wine and good food. It’s an event we all look forward to – even though the children are initially desperately embarrassed by the grown-ups singing! It’s quite a production putting it all together, though, as I like to decorate a tree for every room and prepare mince pies and other festive treats with the children. My florist friend Karen Attwood will help me adorn every surface with fresh seasonal arrangements. For very special gatherings, my catering friend Lucy Hoyle will whip up some delicious party nibbles for us to enjoy with plenty of fizz.”
ABOVE LEFT A Flowers and Lifestyle by Margot wreath adorns the front door. TOP RIGHT Rebecca shares her inspiring ideas on her website myenglishcountry cottage.co.uk ABOVE The charming 400-year-old thatched cottage shrouded in atmospheric mist.
ABOVE The sitting room is the perfect place for festive gatherings. The antique rug is from The Rug & Carpet Studio in Long Melford and the Red Elgin Skye checked cushions are by Harrison Cropper. RIGHT The bookshelves are built onto a false wall so as not to interfere with the integrity of the old, listed building. The Roses blind fabric andOctavia cushion are both by Kate Forman. The velvet pouffe is from Graham & Green.
Even when the family’s guests have said their goodbyes, the Lovatts are never completely free of company. It is difficult to ever be truly alone in an old timber-framed property such as this 400-year-old beauty on the Essex-Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border. Rebecca, Jamie and their children have all had to accept that they share their home with lots of countryside friends.
“The thatched roof is a haven for insects, birds, and sometimes mice,” Rebecca says. “With all the gaps in the timbers, we end up with a fair few spiders and bone-shaking draughts, but I simply channel my inner Cinderella and sing along with the tweets and squeaks. I wrap up in jumpers and blankets as I try to vanquish the dust and cobwebs that are determined to reappear on the fairy lights and foliage the minute I turn my head. It’s all part of life in the English countryside, especially when you live in a house this old.”
For Rebecca, it is certainly the oldest house she’s ever lived in. “I grew up in a Victorian house in Sussex,” she recalls, “but left for university then drama school in London. During my acting career there, I met my husband-to-be at our best friends’ wedding.”
When the couple became parents, Rebecca gave up acting to focus on the children and her other passion,
The antique cabinet is an inherited piece. The antique child’s naïve chair is from Original Homewares and the check blanket is from Susie Watson Designs. Rebecca’s friend Lucy Hoyle has prepared some delicious canapes for guests.
ABOVE The principal bedroom floor is so old and uneven the Montgomery Rattan bed from The French Bedroom Company has to be propped up withbooks.The bedside cabinets are painted in Château Grey chalk paint by Annie Sloan. The curtains are in Paris Rose Blue by Cabbages & Roses. RIGHT This corner of the principal bedroom epitomises all the English country elements Rebecca loves: exposed beams, shabby chic furniture, floral art and beautiful textiles. The floral painting propped on the floor is by Emma Perring. writing, and they moved to Cheshire. Then, about eight years ago, they headed back down south, wanting to be closer to friends who live in the Cambridgeshire area. “Since relocating, I have been heavily influenced by the seasons and the transitional days,” Rebecca says. “We are lucky enough to be surrounded by fields and farms, so we are in tune with every change, from the crops in the fields to the flowers in the hedgerows to the position of the sun.”
This true understanding of her environment and the way light moves in and around her seventeenth-century thatched cottage throughout the day, in every season, came in very handy when Rebecca was planning how to redecorate this rural idyll.
“When we bought the house, it had been unoccupied for 18 months – of two-legged inhabitants, at least – so we knew it would need a fair amount of tender, loving care,” Rebecca explains. “The kitchen consisted of little more than the Aga and a cheap sink unit. There wasn’t a cupboard in sight and every room was painted in beautiful but, unfortunately, dark colours. I do love rich, cosy interiors, but I am a person who needs natural light, and living in a dark cottage with an overhanging
thatched roof, I had to decorate it very carefully and add colour in other ways.”
So, after a year of living with the inherited decor, Rebecca threw herself into painting the cottage’s interior. She chose a selection of lighter and brighter yet chalky and sympathetic shades from Farrow & Ball to breathe fresh air into the building and add a sense of calm. The paint brand’s Off White, All White, Shaded White, Lime White and Clunch form the backbone of her chosen colour palette. She then added an abundance of fabrics by Kate Forman, Jane Churchill, Cabbage & Roses and Susie Watson Designs, and a few vintage velvets courtesy of Phillips & Cheers.
“I love the English country home style with floral curtains, roaring fires, ginger jars, shelves of books and old rugs dotted everywhere,” explains Rebecca, “and I have tried to recreate this in our cottage, but on a less grand scale, with shabby-chic influences and plenty of rustic materials including scrubbed pine, wicker baskets and painted furniture. Once upon a time, this building was probably home to farmers and their animals, so doing anything too grand and formal would be completely out of character with its history.”
“I couldn’t imagine moving back to the city now,” she adds. “I love the fact that I can tell when it’s going to rain as I watch the clouds gathering across the fields, so I have just enough time to run outside to grab my washing off the line. I know when and where to expect the first snowdrop in January, the climbing roses in June, the blackberries in September, and the berried ivy in December; I find this all very reassuring, feeling part of nature. I absolutely love to reflect that in the way I decorate the house so that it mirrors the seasonal beauty of our wonderful surroundings outside, and I can’t wait to welcome friends and family once again so we can make even more special memories together in our magical home.” n
ABOVE LEFT Daughter Verity’s bedroomis decorated with Jane Churchill’s Flower Fairies wallpaper. The four-poster bed is from The White Company and the chest is from The Cotswold Company. ABOVE RIGHT An antique Asprey jewellery shop cabinet from Original Homewares has been filled with fairy lights and treasured baubles for a magical look in the bathroom.
