Style of Wight - Through the Keyhole

Into The WoodsAfter thirty years of Seaview holidays Michael and Josephine Smith were determined to retire to the island. And a family home for children and grandchildren was very much the order of the day.Now the Commodore of the Seaview Yacht Club, Michael looks more than at home in the beautiful house that he and Josephine have created with the professional help of architect Lindsay Mattinson. Originally a tired looking 1920's art deco style brick house, a new contemporary edge has been given to what is now a striking home with views across the solent." We wanted the house to be family friendly as we knew we'd have grandchildren and we had thought of having a white box house like the kind we'd seen on holidays in Portugal". Michael says " but Lindsay convinced us that the house would have far more impact blending into the woods behind the building using colours and textures which would complement the surroundings and so we've used cedar cladding to merge with the trees. For us, the great thing about using Mattinson Associates was that they came up with a good selection of conceptual ideas that as a client one could take forward and explore further ending up with a final agreed plan which in many ways was very different from our own original thoughts". Before doing anything at all to the house Michael and Josephine lived in what he refers to as a 'leaking wreck' for eight months to see how they could make it work as not only a home for themselves but as a family friendly space where everyone had room to stay comfortably and this enabled them to plan living, sleeping and utility accommodation to maximise the house's potential. The result is a beautifully thought out home with a huge upstairs deck which doubles as a dining area, an open plan kitchen and two living rooms at the top of the house which make the most of the views and then bedrooms and a large utility and wet room at the bottom. The rooms flow harmoniously from one to the next and there are private outdoor areas downstairs to read a book or have a coffee undisturbed. Furnishings are a mixtures of classic and contemporary which fit perfectly with both the design of the house and its family feel. Outside the landscaping has been kept very natural. " I've become quite a keen gardener and have done all the landscaping myself", explains Michael. " It's a modern house but I didn't want to go overboard and have kept the garden as natural as possible so that it blends into the woodland".Seagrove House is a wonderful example of just what you can do with even the most unprepossessing building with some vision, insight and professional help. Its clean lines, natural cedar cladding and sympathetic design have breathed life back into the house and made it a family home that, as Michael says, ' even Kevin Mcloud could not fail to be impressed with'.