Space to breathe

Sophia and Nic Fanciulli decided to leave city living behind to take on a renovation project in the Kent countryside in 2017. ‘We were keen to find a home with land that we could extend and build on,’ says Sophia. The search focused around East Malling, an easy commute to London. ‘We saw this Victorian three-bedroom detached house with land and knew it was perfect.’ After a hasty viewing and an offer that went to sealed bids, it was theirs.

‘Nic and I had fallen in love with the architecture at Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, particularly the Boathouse, which is designed to look like three barns joined together, and we wanted something similar,’ says Sophia. ‘Greig Hills, from Space