Force Of Nature

Kate Pols was so taken by the beauty of this period cottage that she put in an offer without stepping inside.

- Amanda Harling

Until around 10 years ago, Kate Pols ran a successful antiques and interior design business based in the picturesque town of Hungerford. ‘As much as I loved dealing in antiques, after 20 years I decided it was time for a change and a simpler life,’ says Kate. ‘So once the dust had settled after selling the shop, I began looking around for a new challenge.’ For Kate, who lives and breathes design, it was a foregone conclusion that this ‘new challenge’ was going to be a new home. ‘I’d been looking for the right property for a while but nothing really appealed to me until I saw details of this house, an extended 17th-century cottage,’ she says. ‘I drove by to take a look and decided without even going inside that this was where I wanted to live, so I phoned the estate agent and put in an offer right away. Looking at the floor plans, I saw that the interior would benefit from a few changes and there was certainly scope for some improvement on the garden front.’