HIDDEN HAVEN

Jane and Anthony Hosking's waterside home is a tribute to creative restoration and an enduring love for its Cornish setting

- ANNABELLE GRUNDY

Sitting room It took months for Jane to scrub soot and grime from the window frames and ceiling beams. Now, the off-white walls maximise natural light. Walls painted in Pointing, Farrow & Ball. Isla sofas, Sofa.com

Kitchen The chunky, cream-painted island breaks up the room's wooden floor and pine cabinets. Bespoke kitchen units, Richard Winfrey. Gabra pendant lights, Nkuku

AT HOME WITH

Owners Jane Hosking lives here with her husband Anthony, a fisherman, their son Jowan, 23, daughter Teän, 20, and their four springer spaniels, Kim, Madge, Sally and Saffron Bun.

House A four-bedroom, extended cottage that was originally built around 1830. The couple bought the property in 1988.

Nestling by a stream at the bottom of a steep, wooded valley, and all but invisible from the road, Jane and Anthony Hosking's home on Cornwall's Lizard Peninsula is a world away from the county's bustling tourist centres. 'It's an amazing spot,' says Jane. 'No one knows we are here.'

With its large, timber-framed kitchen-diner, two snug sitting rooms and four cosy bedrooms, Wildwood Holt could not be more different from the near-derelict, two-up-two-down, cob and stone cottage the couple bought over 30 years ago. Back then, it was almost hidden among overgrown trees and bushes, and had no electricity, phone or running water.

'Nothing had been touched for 60 years and everything was falling apart, but we weren't put off,' says Anthony. 'My family has farmed here for generations. It was an opportunity we couldn't let go.'