A PLACE TO BLOOM

After travelling the world, Betsy and Russell Haworth have put down roots in a beautiful Berkshire cottage

- HOLLY PHILLIPS

Swapping a footloose life for a permanent home is easy when the setting is as idyllic as this Arts and Crafts cottage, with its romantic, rose-filled garden. Betsy and her husband Russell had been living and working overseas for many years when, in 2014, Russell was offered a CEO position in Oxford. ‘I’m American and Russell is British and his career has taken us all over the world, but with two young boys, Russell’s new position in the UK seemed like the perfect opportunity to put down roots,’ says Betsy.

The couple settled on Berkshire, with its quintessential English villages and rural country charm, all within a stone’s throw of both Oxford and London. A charming 1930s cottage in a pretty village had been on the market for a while when the couple snapped it up. It needed someone with a clear vision to sort it out and, as Betsy and Russell both have a passion for designing, it was the perfect project for them both. Surrounded by a pretty country garden, the house consisted of two parts – the new extension and the original cottage. The extension, although home to a fabulous Neptune kitchen, was a vast empty shell that needed to be configured for family life. Equally, the old part of the house needed updating, and both spaces needed to feel more cohesive.