PAST & PRESENT
Marina and Jeremy Dew can now celebrate the festive season in style at their elegant, beautifully restored 18th-century home
FEATURE JANET MCMEEKIN PHOTOGRAPHY RACHAEL SMITH STYLING JANET MCMEEKIN AND SMOKE & MIRRORS HOUSE STYLING
When friends and family crunch along the gravel drive and cross the elegant bridge in the garden to arrive at Marina and Jeremy Dew’s magical Georgian home for Christmas celebrations, they feel as though they have stepped into a bygone era. “There’s an overwhelming sense of history here,” Marina says. “I felt it even before I set foot inside the house, and guests often remark that it’s like being transported back through the centuries, particularly during the festive season.”
The couple, who are passionate about sensitively restoring period properties, first spotted this West Sussex house online in early 2019. “At the time, we were living in nearby Surrey and, although we had thoroughly enjoyed renovating that house, we love a challenge and had itchy feet,” Marina explains. “The property intrigued me, but as Jeremy wasn’t so keen, we decided to leave it.”
Six months later, noticing that the handsome house was still on the market, Marina persuaded Jeremy to investigate further. Driving through the leafy lanes of the picturesque village with its abundance of attractive Georgian houses and distinctive medieval church, the couple were enchanted. “From the moment the gates leading to the house opened and we caught a glimpse of this exceptionally attractive home with its little stream running through the expansive gardens, we were captivated,” Marina recalls. “The house was even better than I’d imagined and Jeremy was impressed.”
During the next hour, while strolling around the property, the couple agreed that this rather dated gem had vast potential. “The decor was not quite to our taste, and part of the downstairs layout was rather strange. However, I was confident that Jeremy could work his magic to visualise how we could transform the house,” says Marina.
Believed to date from the 1770s, with later Victorian additions, the Grade II listed property boasts a raft of period features, from original fireplaces and wooden shutters to ornate cornicing, ceiling and wall mouldings, picture and dado rails, Palladi
