As sudden life changes go, giving up a senior job at the same time as swapping city life for the quiet of the countryside sounds dramatic. Yet long before the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated such lifestyle trends – 14 years ago in fact – that was exactly what Emma Sherlock, an interior designer, did, when she left London. “It was a big adjustment, and I’m not sure I’d recommend it all in one go, but it’s all worked out brilliantly,” she says.
Sherlock had worked as promotions director for Vogue for 13 years, but living in a flat in Hammersmith, with her husband and their two young sons, the desire for more space and freedom eventually took over. “There came a time where I just wanted to open the back door and let the children out and not have to go to the park,” she explains. She also had one eye on a career pivot into interior design.
She grew up in Hampshire, so she and her husband, Jamie Sherlock, began circling the Bourne Valley, an area with picturesque countryside, good schools and a reliable commute back into the capital (Jamie kept his job in the City). It took a year of viewings for them to land on this brick and flint cottage. “I really wanted something that was quite charming and pretty, but I didn’t want a thatched cottage. And I didn’t want to be in something that was too dark. What appealed was the house’s L-shaped layout, and that we didn’t need to spend a huge amount of money on building work,” explains Sherlock.