Across the Pond - All Hands on Deck

When a family of creative spirits sets out to restore a centuries-old English boathouse, the result is a jaunty seaside sanctuary

- 

Settled up on brick stilts, the little white boathouse-turned-residence of textile designer Emily Burningham (emilyburningham.com) and her extended family has a dreamy, storybook-like quality. That should come as no surprise seeing that Emily's parents, Helen Oxenbury and the late John Burningham, illustrated children's books, including We're Going on a Bear Hunt (Helen) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (John). They were equally creative in their spare time, regularly retrieving pieces from skips (British English for rubbish bins) and old buildings on the verge of teardown.