Handled With Care

Anna and Joel Loader brought their period house into the 21st century while retaining its original character

- Vivenne Ayers/Seán O’connell

When Anna and Joel Loader decided the time had come to move out of London, in 2008, they set their sights on a small village in Berkshire, near to where Anna grew up. ‘We came out of the station and there was the feeling of autumn – the smell of woodsmoke and mist over the canal,’ says Anna. ‘The setting alone sold the village to us and we both knew it would be a lovely place to live.’