insideKENT Magazine Issue 79 - October 2018 | Page 143

GETAWAYS
Style and substance at
THE OUTBUILDING APPLEDORE
MY YOUNGEST IS STILL AT THAT AGE WHERE A FRESHLY PAINTED WALL VERSUS A
COLOURFUL SELECTION OF SHARPIES IS STILL FAIR GAME, SO WITH THE INSTANT
JOY I FELT WALKING INTO THE OUTBUILDING APPLEDORE, A FORMER WORKSHOP
TURNED INCREDIBLY GOOD LOOKING HOLIDAY HOME ON THE KENT/SUSSEX
BORDER, ALSO CAME A GLUT OF ANXIETY THAT IT MIGHT JUST BE TOO WELL PUT
TOGETHER FOR A FAMILY TO RELAX IN. BY POLLY HUMPHRIS
My anxiety was short lived, however. “Ooh,
a bubble machine,” shouted one of the small
people. “Mum! There’s a hammock!” – shouted
the other, and with a series of urgent footsteps
across the festoon-lit decking, they were gone.
Well this is an excellent start, I thought.
With parquet flooring, bare brick, flashes
of copper and gold, and all sorts of interesting
decoration clearly liked by the owners instead
of copied from a ‘how to be homely, but
modern’ handbook, a lesson in razor-sharp
style this pretty conversion may well be, but
conceited it is not.
Behind the coffee-table books covering
iconic 80’s faces, art and history, there’s comfy
sofas begging to be sat on, and the cool,
collectible glassware is stashed on shelves
above the galley kitchen, which is kitted out
with all the practical stuff people need for a
weekend away. It’s most definitely a home,
albeit one with a big personality painted in a
trendy Farrow & Ball palette.
Apart from the tiled bathroom, which has
a more than a touch of the Orient in its
monochrome, grey and jade green look, my
favourite use of space is the hallway-cum-
second bedroom that leads there. Too wide
for a simple walkway, the space along one
wall has been converted into