Small Wonder

Every inch of Jonathan Avery’s self-designed home is put to good use – and it could be the blueprint for lots of us in the future.

- Catherine Coyle

When Jonathan Avery and his wife Jo started winding down their bespoke furniture design studio and showroom in 2010, they also made a life-changing decision to relocate from central Edinburgh to a smallholding in rural West Lothian. They were both tired, frustrated by the economic circumstances that had forced the closure of their workshop, and ready for the next adventure that would whet their creative appetite. After careers spent working in design, in London and Edinburgh, both craved not merely a change of job but a change of lifestyle. “We gradually closed the whole operation down,” recalls Jonathan, “then went in search of a more sus tain able, less stressful existence.”

He came across the land that would become their home almost by chance. A self-taught photographer (as well as a graphic designer and furniture-maker), he would often escape the city and venture into the surrounding countryside in search of landscapes to photograph. Out in West Lothian one day, he spotted a ‘for sale’ sign. Investigating further, he discovered it referred to seven acres of beautiful mature woodland, streams and wildlife. It immediately won him over. Despite being a self-confessed city-dweller, Jo too fell in love with the place and was ready for change.

It took them just two months from seeing the smallholding (which they now refer to as Shangri-La Farm) to packing up and moving to the countryside. “I didn’t realise it at the time, but a TV show I’d been watching about relocating and changing your life in a bid for modern self-sufficiency was really instrumental in what happened next,” remembers Jonathan.