MELLOW YELLOW

This elegant farmhouse near the Black Mountains is a haven of calm for Juliette and Neal Fernandes Smith

- JULIET BENNING

The landscape around Juliette and Neal Fernandes Smith’s farmhouse seems to invite guests to pause and inhale deeply, such is its still beauty. It was this sense of peace that appealed to Juliette, who has practised yoga for over 20 years and was looking for a property with land where she and Neal might possibly start a retreat centre. After selling her house in London, the couple were renting a Wiltshire cottage when they stumbled upon the house they have since renamed Alchemy Hill. ‘It was only the second place we looked at. But surrounded by thousands of acres of common, the views were outstanding, like a film set,’ says Juliette.