Surrey Homes | SH112 | May 2024 | Love Your Home Supplement inside

This page: The main bedroom and en suite.
In the capacious bathroom the bath is raised
on a platform below a twinkling chandelier.
The wall colours are Sulking Room Pink
and Setting Plaster by Farrow & Ball
unique perspectives. “I asked Arthur
about the different rooms in the house
but he said Ivy would know better
than him because he didn’t go into the
servants’ areas like the kitchen.” And
for Ivy it was a shock just being a guest
alongside Arthur. Claire explained, “We
were sitting in the drawing room and
Ivy couldn’t believe she was there as a
guest with Arthur and his daughter Cary.
She had waited on his family her whole
life and those barriers were still there.”
Arthur and Ivy both died around
the same time a few years ago but
Claire’s lasting feeling is one of privilege.
“I was just so lucky to spend that
time with them both,” she says.
Back in the present day and in the
dining room Claire demonstrates the
foot operated butler bell which still
works today. Positioned under the
dining table it shows just how much life
has changed. The system is a source of
much amusement for Claire’s two girls
who enjoy playing in here. She jokes,
“There’s a butler bell in all the rooms
but sadly the butler never comes.” The
room is also a great place to host guests.
“It’s perfect for Christmas dinners as you
can fit 16-17 people around the table.”
Entering the kitchen – which was
completely renovated by Burnhill
Kitchens – you can see further evidence
of the house as it would have been, with
the servants’ area still boxed out behind a
curtain. This being one of the oldest (and
coldest) rooms in the house, Claire and
Jonny have tried to honour it by bringing
in more light through glazed doors and
have deliberately kept the fridges under
counter to maintain the old fashioned
look. “Naos Floors did a brilliant job of
warming up this north-facing room with
underfloor heating and big flagstone
tiles,” she explains. In the corner of the
room a beamed nook area has become the
girls’ living room. “It was a big cupboard
before which we opened out and fitted
with a woodburner. They love it,”
Accessed via the kitchen is also the
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