Embracing small doses of bold colour and pattern has brought new life – and style – to Jo and David Cox’s pretty, pink-hued Tudor farmhouse
FEATURE JANET MCMEEKIN
EXTERIOR The facade of the farmhouse has been sensitively updated with the addition of an oak porch. Front door in Little Donkey, Fenwick &Tilbrook PHOTOGRAPHY LAURA MARIN KITCHEN Wooden flooring is a beautiful and practical choice for a rural home. Reclaimed oak floorboards, The Main Company. Walls in Snowdrop, Fenwick & Tilbrook. Cabinetry in Pantry Blue; Crackle pendant light; wooden bar stools, all deVOL
HOME TRUTHS
THE PROPERTY AGrade II-listed, detached farmhouse, with parts dating back to 1520
ROOMS Sitting room, dining room, kitchen, boot room, cloakroom, four bedrooms, two bathrooms
LOCATION Essex
BOOT ROOM Patterned floor tiles are teamed with warm wood and natural textures. Pombaline tiles, Claybrook Studio. Walls and ceiling in Herring’s Lane, Fenwick &Tilbrook. Console table, Rowen &Wren. Mirror, Home Barn. Chester wall light in Beeswax, Jim Lawrence. Darlana lantern pendant, Andrew MartinUTILITY ROOM Asink – unearthed from a garden in Southend and bought by Jo on Facebook Marketplace for just £30 – was the starting point for this scheme. Sink skirt, made in Alma Check in Hemp and Sand, Chelsea Textiles. Single beadboard drying rack, PulleyMaidSITTING ROOM Jo loved Claire’s idea of a bespoke club fender to give the inglenook fireplace more presence and create additional seating for guests. Club fender made by Acres Farm with seating in Little Stripe in Chocolate, Nicholas HerbertDINING ROOM The beams here were blasted to remove layers of black paint. Circular extending table, Elisabeth James Antiques. Chandelier, Homary. Walls in Seal Pup, Fenwick &TilbrookLIBRARY The comfortable window seat is the perfect spot for the children to relax and read. Window seat cushion in Beige Seaweed, Colefax and Fowler. Roman blind in Rustic Stripe, Mulberry Home. Rug, Ruggable
Despite being only half a mile away from her previous home, when Jo Cox viewed a characterful 16th-century farmhouse in a quiet country lane, she felt as though she’d stepped into another world. ‘I’ll never forget that feeling of excitement when I pushed open the wooden gate in the middle of the beautiful beech hedge,’ Jo recalls. ‘Seconds later, when I caught sight of the ancient farmhouse, I was entranced.’
Back in 2017, Jo and her family had been living in a town in Essex. ‘My husband, David, and I had done quite a lot of work to that house, but since moving there, I’d developed a passion for growing flowers and vegetables, and I yearned for a larger garden and an older property,’ she says. ‘We were also keen to live some
