A Room Of One's Own

Inspired by the Bloomsbury Set and her Scandinavian childhood,Sarah Mason has created a vibrant family home in Hastings, East Sussex, furnished with her own handmade designs.

- Alex Reece 

‘The sea is part of our lives and I couldn’t ever see myself living somewhere inland,’ says Sarah Mason, a fashion and dress history graduate and mother of three, who left London for the East Sussex coast 10 years ago. Since moving to Hastings, trips to the beach after school and regular sea swims have become part of the family’s routine. And from their early Victorian home, high on the West Hill, they can look out over the English Channel and along the coast as far as Eastbourne and Beachy Head. ‘The views and the light in this house are amazing,’ says Sarah.

When Sarah and her husband Steve came across the five-storey property, back in 2012, it was pretty much empty, as it was being used as an artists’ studio. With original 19th century features such as fireplaces, shutters and elaborate cornicing still intact, it provided a blank canvas for Sarah’s creativity to run wild. Since then, the interior has been transformed by her handmade textile pieces and bold use of colour.

‘I’ve always been inspired by the Bloomsbury Set,’ says Sarah, who is a frequent visitor to Charleston, the Sussex home of 20th-century artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. ‘I love that style and how they created Charleston just with what they had. I find that so inspiring. Everything here is either thrown together or created by myself.’

AN ARTISTIC ENCLAVE