IN FULL BLOOM

A longing to live in the country inspired Zelie Billins to build a house – and then a whole new business blossomed

- CELIA RUFEY

Living area

The door at the far end of the living area leads to the snug, two guest bedrooms and a bathroom. Sofas, Sofas & Stuff. The plain yellow sofa is covered in Linara Euphorbia by Romo. Cushions, Missoni at Amara

AT HOME WITH

Owner Zelie Billins owns and runs The Home Grown Flower Company (thehomegrownflowercompany.co.uk), and her partner Jonny Hart has a company that manufactures parts for classic cars. House A three-bedroom barn they built in 2009.

Property gazing on the internet is an enjoyable activity, even for those not thinking of moving house. It’s exciting to think you might chance upon a property with the potential to change your life. Zelie Billins only joined the browsers’ club when the lack of a proper garden with her Edwardian terraced house in Brighton began to matter. But she and her partner Jonny Hart surprised themselves when an impromptu viewing turned into their next adventure.

‘In the summer of 2003 I came across a run-down bungalow with 18 acres in East Sussex,’ she explains. ‘It was a probate sale and there was no formal viewing, we simply came and wandered through fields and woodland on a beautiful sunny day among flowers, butterflies and deer. We didn’t even look inside the bungalow. It was a mad punt but we made an offer for it with the idea of getting planning permission to knock down the bungalow and build our own home.’