Ashared passion for Champagne and sustainable design led husband and wife, Ben and Sam Ellis, to build their dream home on the outskirts of the picturesque East Sussex village of Ditchling.
The couple moved from London, where they had met working as town planners for a city consultancy, to Lewes when their three children, Georgia, Ollie and Eva, were small. With a wealth of property planning experience between them, they soon felt it was time to start looking for the ideal spot to build their perfect home.
But for the Ellis’, that vision wasn’t just one of an idyllic residence in the country in which to raise their children, it was also one that would allow them to realise another dream – making their own sparkling wine.
It all started in 2010, after the family found themselves stranded in Asia due to the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull.
“We were stuck in Thailand, unable
