SIMPLY IDYLLIC

Nicola Watters and her husband Paul found their sought-after country home in this light-filled farmhouse, which is also the perfect backdrop for Nicola’s paintings of the British coast and countryside

- VIVIENNE AYERS

Nicola Watters and her husband Paul were living in the centre of a busy town but had long craved the peace and quite of the countryside. ‘Our three children, Hannah, Melissa and James, were all at school there, but the house was rather cramped and noisy,’ says Nicola. ‘I’d also just started my art business and we really wanted a more tranquil environment.’

The couple promptly began looking for a suitable home in the nearby countryside. ‘I’d grown up close to the sea and I wanted my children to experience a childhood like I’d had,’ says Nicola. After a fairly lengthy property search, she spotted their current home – a spacious farmhouse with a white clapboard exterior and picturesque grounds and gardens – and knew straight away that it ticked all the boxes. ‘It reminded me of the house where I’d lived as a child and when we came to view it, I fell in love with it instantly,’ Nicola says. ‘We had an Enid Blyton moment when we brought the children to see the house and they all ran in and chose their bedrooms!’