Start with the art

Sophie and Thomas Stratton were inspired by their passion for paintings to reimagine their family home

- AMELIA THORPE

Looking for a larger home to accommodate their growing family, Sophie Stratton and her husband Thomas, who works in finance, had no intention of leaving London. ‘Then one day, after searching for ages, we went to visit a friend in Surrey and, on the way home, looked at houses in the area online,’ recalls Sophie. ‘We chanced upon this beautiful, majestic house, filled with lots of original period features and surrounded by nearly an acre of lovely gardens. We fell in love with it on sight and put in an offer – it was all very spontaneous.’