Tree House

Julien and Sandrine’s Victorian meets New York loft-style home is full of surprises – including a large fig tree growing through the middle of it…

- Lola Borg

‘My friends think I am very lucky,’ says Sandrine Bonheur, ‘because my husband does all the cooking and all the design.’ A French couple who have lived in London for some 23 years, Julien and Sandrine have an impressive house that is very much his domain. Although it’s the subject of much good-natured joshing between them (especially over Sandrine’s supposed ‘messiness’), Julien is firmly in control of aesthetics here. ‘There are two concessions to my wife,’ he says, waving an arm around the huge living room. ‘The table for her evening cup of tea and the chair by the bookshelf so she can read next to the fireplace.’ (He’s joking. We think.) For her part, Sandrine is content with the deal. ‘I’m not interested in the décor,’ she says. ‘I don’t have the patience and he does it very well.’