‘This is our forever house’ says Jonty Davies firmly – and his conviction is understandable given that he’s come a long way to find it. Growing up in south London, then working in Paris and New York as a fashion and beauty photographer for magazines including Stylist, Red and Vogue and with clients ranging from Boots to Oscar De La Renta, Jonty’s seen some pretty special homes in his time. ‘In my 20s I was an assistant to world-renowned fashion photographer Pamela Hanson and frequently had to deliver things out to her in the Hamptons area of Long Island,’ he explains. ‘The houses there are gorgeous – wood-clad, with a relaxed ‘coastal chic’ vibe. I knew that one day I’d want a home of my own to have that sort of style.’
Scroll on quarter of a century and Jonty, his wife Lisa (the couple met when she represented him at his agency) and their children Joe, now 15, and Ivy, now ten, were looking to move from London to somewhere closer to family. ‘Lisa’s parents are in Suffolk, mine are in Kent, so we drew a circle between the two places, concentrating on areas with good schools and access to London – and Hertfordshire is what we came up with.’
Although Jonty and Lisa had thought about building from scratch, when in 2018 they saw a property near Ware advertised for sale on uber-stylish online estate agency The Modern House, they were intrigued. Originally a pair of farm workers’ cottages, part of the estate belonging to the mansion that still stands nearby and with a distinctive ‘catslide’ roof that dated from an earlier incarnation, it had been modified and extended by leading architect Patty Hopkins in the 1970s. There was just one problem. ‘Even if we didn’t do anything to the house as it was – and we knew we wanted to make further changes – we simply couldn’t afford it’ remembers Jonty. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained: the couple put in an offer they could afford and, Miraculously, it was accepted.
Five years later, the house – after various delays over planning permission – has been re clad in larch wood ('it should mellow and darken beautifully with age' says Jonty), remodelled and extended, to create a versatile, light-filled home for the whole family, which now includes beloved Jack Russell-Labrador cross, Pickle. ‘She was a lockdown dog’ says Jonty, ‘And – don’t tell Lisa – but she’s the love of my life!’
The couple’s master bedroom is now downstairs in the new extension, along with an ensuite (‘so we’re separated from the kids, which is no bad thing’, says Jonty), while walls have been removed to create a large, open-plan kitchen-diner. Upstairs are three more bedrooms with bathrooms, an art space for super-creative Ivy (‘we tend to find a lot of paintbrushes around the house,’ says Jonty), and an attic bedroom that’s ideal for adventurous – and nimble - guests, reached via a steel ladder.
Colour-scheme wise, Jonty and Lisa went for white: ‘The light here changes throughout the day, with a greenish light in the morning from the garden and woodland outside, and a blueish light as the sunshine moves further from the house as the day continues. It creates its own sort of palette on the walls.’ Green, though, has always been Lisa’s favourite colour and there are dashes of it throughout the house, from the Bert & May tiles on the fire surrounds and kitchen floor to the wallpaper with its jungle-like feel in the bathroom.
Complementing this is a pastel pink: ‘we experimented with all sorts of colours, but this just seemed to go well with the green – they’re both soft shades.’ It’s used on accent walls and, most strikingly, on the staircase in the hallway. ‘We chose a hard-wearing paint from Mylands – we can scrub it, so it’s actually quite practical.’ Another feature here is the unusual metal banister, which dates from the 1970s. ‘If you look at it closely, we reckon it’s an old diving-board frame that’s been repurposed,’ says Jonty. Having been painted black, it looks strikingly contemporary and is echoed by the black steel frames of the door that lead to the kitchen-diner. ‘We wanted a Crittall-window feel, without a Crittall cost, so got these from contemporary glass specialists Joshua James.’
Similarly, the hall’s terrazzo floor was something Jonty had always hankered after. ‘When I was working in Palm Springs, you’d see these places with amazing poured terrazzo floors – the pouring bit was too expensive for us, though, so we have slabs of it instead and it’s cool in summer, and warm in winter.’
Talking of warmth, keeping the house heated has proved quite a challenge. When the family bought the house, the heating system – all electric – was in the roof. ‘Ironically, that system – originally the last word in sustainability - proved prohibitive in terms of cost with the recent price hikes. Now, we have underfloor gas heating, and we use fallen wood from the garden and beyond to fuel the Resolute stove that dates from the house’s 1970s era.’
Beyond decorating, adding to the house and its setting has been relatively straightforward for Jonty, who is very practical. ‘My dad was the sort of person who’d have a go if something needed building or fixing at home,’ he says, ‘And I’m the same.’ Thus he created a light-fitting in the hall from wire and glass shades from Dunhelm and Lucide Maloto, built an atmospheric cabin outside, complete with corrugated iron roof, with the iron bought as a job lot from ebay, and there’s also a chicken shed he’s especially proud of.
The entire family love the space here – the woods and ponds to roam around – and it’s a home that they’re happy to share. ‘We’re letting it out as a location venue,’ says Jonty. ‘With privacy, easy access and our proximity to London, we’re pretty well placed to accommodate film and photography crews.’ And, outside in the dark room Jonty’s built in the garden, he’ll be offering photography tutorials, sharing his expertise and enthusiasm with those who want to develop their skills.
Meanwhile, Jonty is happy to know that he only has to hop on a train at Ware and he can be in London in under an hour – not that, these days, he has any real desire to leave home. ‘It’s just as we’d always envisaged – we’re down and unmade road, surrounded by nature and, though the town’s nearby, you really feel as if you’re in the middle of nowhere here. Plus the house definitely has that Hamptons vibe I’d dreamed of all those years ago.’
A little bit of the Hamptons in the heart of Hertfordshire: surely an ideal combination.
For details of Jonty's photography courses, see hertsphotographichub.co.uk
