Chocolate roulades and sizing up the opposition
Tuesday
‘Are you sure it okay for all of us to traipse round? Every other time I’ve visited a house like this, I’ve paid to get in.’
There’s no getting away from it. As we get out of the car on the wide gravelled forecourt at Siren House, it’s looking shockingly close to a stately home. I’m still gawping at the lions by the humungous stone gateposts and the stone urns dotted along the sweeping drive. And close up with its mellow coursed stone and its small paned sash windows the building is a hundred times more imposing than ever it was from the beach.
Sophie brushes away my concerns as she marches us past a line of parked cars towards the wide front door which is ajar. ‘Open viewings are all about tactics, it’s great to confuse the opposition by turning up in a crowd. The agents don’t mind at all because it bumps up their numbers.’ It’s Sophie all over to have her fighting strategy in place from the start. And it also explains why she was so keen to have us in her posse.
I’m scouring the line of car’s making a big thing of examining the shrubbery checking if Charlie’s is parked up. ‘Nice box bushes.’
Sophie frowns. ‘Since when did you know about planting, Clemmie?’
‘Box is a French thing, there’s a lot of it in Paris.’ It’s pure luck that it’s the one plant I know. I’m peering down the side of the house, but when his car’s not there either my chest deflates. At least my banging heart can go back to normal speed. Although with the anticipation of bumping into him around any corner, my body’s so flooded with adrenalin I doubt that will happen.
Plum’s getting in the mood as she hurries after Sophie. ‘We could be a consortium. Or Clem and I could be your interior decorators.’ She’s right in character with her paint spattered overalls.
I stare along the roofline and take in the towers at either end. ‘With all those ramparts it’s more the kind of place Kate and Wills would live than any of us.’ Even Sophie.
Sophie rolls her eyes at me. ‘You do exaggerate, as crenelations go they’re minor. Come on, let’s look inside.’
We leave Nate to sign us in and wander off around the ground floor picking our way between the other viewers, through rooms that are faded yet sun filled and surprisingly warm.
Plum’s nodding approvingly as we hover by the tall French windows. ‘The light is fabulous, it must be the reflection from the sea.’ Despite the dingy paintwork, the rooms have a luminous quality.
Sophie’s smile is blissful as she stares out to the horizon. ‘Isn’t it wonderful the way the garden ends and the sea begins? And there’s a zig zag pathway and steps so you can walk straight down to the beach.’
Now Nate’s caught us up he’s tapping walls, peering up the chimneys and frowning at every crack and crevice in the downstairs reception rooms. So, we women head off for a quick tour of a massive kitchen and a maze of pantries and boot rooms, then make our way back to the hallway. As Sophie bounces up the wide staircase she’s already acting like she owns the place. Although against the sludge coloured walls her aqua and white stripe T-shirt looks way too pristine to belong here. As we reach the landing Sophie and Plum are both breathless, I assume with excitement. Even though I should be in practice with my regular two flight climb at Seaspray Cottage, I’m panting from running to keep up with them.
Plum tugs at a piece of peeling wallpaper in the bedroom. ‘This place is almost as run down as mine was when I bought it.’
As she leads us into the next vast bedroom Sophie’s eyes are bright. ‘The knack is to look beyond the dirt and clutter and see the rooms as theywillbe.’ She closes her eyes. ‘Think neutral colour palettes, natural fabrics from sustainable sources. Log fires, jute runners, unbelievably chunky hand-knitted throws …’
I can’t help a teasing prompt. ‘Don’t forget Mason jars. You’ll need a shit-load of those to make an impression in this place.’
Sophie’s missing the joke. ‘I’ve been counting up as we walked round, I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough.’
As Plum chimes in she sends me a wink. ‘I’m feeling beech furniture made by Nordic artisans, Icelandic sheepskins, Scandinavian scented candles …’ She’s been exposed to Sophie’s Hygge home thoughts even more than I have.
Sophie’s eyes snap open. ‘That’s my exact vision – with a bit of bothy thrown in too because by the time the builders are done the Scottish Island influence will have hit us full on. When I close my eyes, I can hear this place crying out for a happy family to live a simple cosy life and connect with nature.’
Somehow the simple vibes are passing me by. And the cosy ones too. ‘I can see that Hawthorn Farm connects with nature, but where’s the nature in this house?’
She laughs. ‘Now you’re being silly, Clems. Here we’d practically be livinginthe ocean. You can’t get any more natural than that.’ She points to the window and the sea beyond that’s glittering blue all the way to where it smudges into the sky. ‘It’s the views and that connection with the sea we’re really here for. And if I get my dream castle at the same time, I can live with that.’
I have to concede on this. ‘I have to admit it is amazing looking out on the ocean all day, every day.’ I used to prefer city rooftops and traffic. But each time I look out at it from Laura’s I feel luckier and luckier to be there. Looking straight out across the bay gives you so much space to breathe and to be. It’s almost as if for the first time in my life I’m feeling every colour change of the horizon, noticing the clouds scudding across the sky, the dippers on the beach. Now I’ve woken up to the water and its moods, it draws me to watch and I can’t stop.
Sophie’s nodding at me. ‘It was spending time at Seaspray Cottage that made me remember what I was missing. Plum looks out on the sea, Nell gets a teensy glimpse from her bedroom. I’m the only one of us who hasn’t got a sea view.’ It has to be theonlything we have that she hasn’t. And now she wants that too. Although I can’t blame her. When I arrived back six weeks ago I had no idea how mesmerising and addictive that view would become, or how much time I’d spend, day and night, looking out. Or how I’d love the flat more with each passing day.
I’m trying to remember how she sold us her move inland. ‘But you love Hawthorne Farm because it’s sheltered. And looks out on fields. And because it’s brill not having neighbours.’ Back then she cited coastal pollution and wild flower meadows as reasons for leaving St Aidan. There was a lot of talk about rolling land and buttercups. And waving grass being so much better to look out on than dreary old St Aidan bay with its washed-up plastic bottles and acres of boring old water.
She’s shaking her head. ‘There’s the whole beach to play on here, and I’msoready for a move back to civilization. Even if the house here isn’t as big as I’d hoped, I’m sure we can work with the space limitations.’ As for the size thing, all I can say is hanging round warehouses and factory units and having an entire barn for a bedroom has totally messed up her spatial awareness.
Plum’s nodding as if she completely understands this bit. ‘It’s funny, some cottages are like tardises. This looks huge from the outside, but once you’re inside it’s almost snug.’ She has to be deluding herself if she’s saying that.
As someone whose entire flat would fit in the back porch, I can’t honestly join in about how it’s not big enough. ‘I’m liking what I overheard the agent saying about the name. It’s lovely to think of the original owner changing it to Siren House after he heard mermaid song drifting up from the sea.’
Sophie’s eyes are dreamy. ‘It’s as though the house was completely made for us. After a whole lifetime anticipating what it was like I was worried I’d be disappointed, but now I’ve seen it I want it even more.’ It’s official, she’s totally smitten.
