Jessica Alken worked with Neptune to create this kitchen in a new Cornish house. Photo by Alexander James.
After her family sold Grade II*-listed Harlyn House to The Pig hotel group, Jessica Alken and her husband, Ash, set about building themselves a new house near Padstow.
The project involved taking down a red-brick bungalow overlooking the sea and designing a beach house in its place.
‘Ash is a bespoke-home builder and we worked with Totnes-based architects Harrison Sutton Partnership on the designs,’ explains Jess.
As she had grown up in old houses, top priority was re-using materials to avoid it feeling too new, including reclaimed slate for the roof.
The benefit of building from scratch was that it allowed the couple free rein to design the open-plan kitchen.
‘We made a conscious decision to sacrifice the extra bedrooms we could have had upstairs to vault the ceiling—it lends the room so much light and space.’
Working with a neutral palette, the cabinets are from Neptune’s Henley range, painted in Snow.
‘I wanted a large island clear of any sinks or appliances so that it could become a gathering point for family and friends,’ says Jess.
The ceiling is clad in whitewashed boards and the floor is wood reclaimed from an old school, sourced from Bert & May.
Some of the bricks from the old bungalow were used as the splashback behind the Aga.
‘I like it when a home has a connection to its past life, mixing old with new. It’s what The Pig’s designer, Judy Hutson, does so effortlessly. My aim was to design something that wouldn’t date.’
Pinterest was used as a source for many of the details, including the pendant lights, which were shipped from the New Zealand interiors store Copper + Pink.
The bar stools are the Ludlow design, also by Neptune.
Contact Alkenby Bespoke Homes for more details
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