A French-style country house

Preparing for Christmas is always important for Nikki Holden, but never more so than this year as her husband Simon, who is in the RAF, has leave for the holidays. ‘It’s a real treat for Joshua and Jade to have their father home for Christmas,’ says Nikki, ‘we all love the festive season, and it’s so important to be able to share that with Simon.’

So that she can give herself plenty of time to prepare the house for his return, Nikki always orders two or three trees at the beginning of December. ‘I like to enjoy them for as long as possible,’ she says. ‘I also start scouring the fields for holly and ivy, and begin making my own decorations; Jade likes to help me, too.’ It’s evident that this house isn’t just special at Christmas, but all year round: this is Nikki and Simon’s first permanent home, and they have put their hearts into making sure it has a welcoming feel.

Nikki explains: ‘About four years ago we started looking to put down some roots as we’d been moving around the UK and living in various barracks houses, from the south coast of England to Northern Scotland. We even thought about buying in France, but we felt that would be too far away as Simon would still be stationed in the UK for most of the year.

‘So we were really excited when we found this place,’ she continues. ‘The location is perfect as it’s central to the rest of the country. Plus, I think it has the feeling of an old French house, particularly as it came with an old wash house and a large barn. The barn was in a sorry state, and the amount of work it needs was probably the reason no one else snapped up the property, but we knew it would have potential.’

Since Nikki, Simon and the children moved in, the house has been gradually transformed into a remarkably individual home. ‘But I didn’t get my own way on anything,’ says Simon, who has called home to join in the conversation. ‘Nikki has made most of the decisions without me.

‘Unfortunately, within two weeks of moving in, I was deployed to Afghanistan for a tour of duty,’ he continues, ‘leaving Nikki to start on the renovations. But the one thing that I did do before I set off was to remove all the old carpets from the downstairs rooms and the bedrooms; I then sanded all the floors to remove all those years of old paint, stain and glue.’

Soon after Nikki waved him goodbye, it was time for her to get started. ‘With a paintbrush in one hand and a sledge hammer in the other, I rid the house of the dated colour schemes, 1960s floor tiles, 1970s pink bedroom sinks and the growing population of mice that plagued our home and larder.

‘Our bedroom had fitted wardrobes,’ she recalls, ‘that went from floor to ceiling; some feet behind I noticed a bricked up fireplace. Before I knew what I was doing, I had ripped down the mirrored doors and was smashing my way through the wall to uncover an original feature. Simon was horrified when I explained what I’d undertaken – but he was more than 3,000 miles away, so it was okay!

‘With the help of a neighbour, a large skip and plaster I had the fireplace looking very fine; it was the first one I’d restored. And with a very productive trip to the local reclamation yard I found a wonderful period fire surround to finish the job, once I had stripped, sanded and painted it,’ Nikki adds.

‘When Simon came back from the desert, the hunt for a new kitchen was on; secretly I knew the design I wanted, but had to let Simon look around until “he” found it. It was then that we decided to remove a portion of the wall between the kitchen and utility room to open up the area before we laid an oak floor; but we weren’t on our own. A large oak beam needed to be erected and this was out of our league, so we hired a builder to transform the room.’

At the same time, Nikki and Simon decided to lay carpet in the bedrooms and reception rooms. ‘The floorboards looked great, but we found that the house was just too cold not to cover them,’ admits Nikki. Other jobs in the home have focused on the general repair and maintenance. Nikki explains: ‘Our oil tank, which was rusting, was replaced and moved to a more suitable place; this meant digging up half the garden to lay pipes and taps. Our barn roof was in need of specialist attention as each time we had a strong wind, our neighbour would return numerous tiles to us. We’ve now secured the roof, but we haven’t had the money or the time to renovate the rest of the barn yet; we think it could make a nice holiday home, to bring in some extra income or for friends and family who like to visit. But that’s a big project, so it’s on hold for now.’

Another task for the future lies beneath the house, explains an enthusiastic Nikki: ‘We’ve found out from a lady who lived here in the 1970s that we have a hidden cellar under an inch of cement in the study floor, which we have yet to break into; I’m keeping my fingers crossed I might find that elusive “work of art”.’

For now, it’s back to the fun of preparing the house ready for Simon’s arrival home from service. Nikki has a long list of jobs that she’s working her way through: not least, presents to be wrapped, mince pies to be baked, and the rest of the tree decorations to be unwrapped and displayed.

‘It’ll be lovely to have Simon home once again,’ says Nikki, ‘and this is the perfect Christmas village for him to return to. Everyone opens up their home for the neighbours, and we all do a round of drinks in each house. After moving house so much in the past, it’s great to have that sense of community; I’m so glad we found this place.’

FEATURE NAOMI JONES STYLING SIAN WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPHS BRENT DARBY
Featured in the January 2010 issue of Period Living

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