An effortlessly layered seaside house by Isabella Worsley

The stretch of coastline by Chichester Harbour is some of Britain’s best. Here, sand dunes heap haphazardly, surrendering to the wind’s whims, and fiercely blue waters roll under a big sky. There’s little wonder then, that the area’s sea-facing plots are coveted and rare–and when one came on the market, Isabella Worsley’s client jumped at the chance to buy it.

The client was someone Isabella had worked with previously, on a small but perfectly formed mews house in Brighton. “The mews house was cheerful, playful, not too serious, and cemented the attraction of having a place to retreat to for my city-dwelling client,” explains Isabella. What it didn’t have was the scale or location that this new house could offer. Brighton became a stepping-stone. It was time to move on.

However, there was a rather tricky hurdle to clear before Isabella could get to work on the interiors. “The existing house was really quite outdated. It was very much of its time and needed completely redoing from scratch.” The old house was to be reworked and a new house, better suited to modern life, erected in its place. The challenges didn’t stop there though, as both Isabella and her client knew the project required a very specialist treatment. “The buildings on these sea-facing plots take a real battering, so the new house needed to be both marine-resistant and visually suitable for the coastal vernacular.” Having worked successfully with architect Martin Taylor on the mews house, Isabella knew exactly who to call. The Brighton team was reassembled.

Martin and Isabella pooled their creative powers and drew up a house that was architecturally beautiful inside and out. “We wanted to merge the building with its environment as much as possible,” explains Isabella. Perhaps the cleverest example of this is the house’s flint façade, which directly references the beach location. Inside, wide, sea-facing windows flood the rooms with light and act almost like blinkers, pulling your focus out to the water. As Isabella explains, “the design needed to manufacture a sense of privacy because these waterfront plots tend to be quite close together. You don’t want an ever-present awareness of your neighbours.”

Once the interior architecture was completed, Isabella and the studio’s senior designer Georgie Govan, began work on the decoration. “I’ve never been involved in a project from the very beginning, so it was exciting to flex a new muscle,” Isabella says. “In other projects, I’ve often had a client’s furniture and items to work with, or a specific period of architecture to draw from, but here it was the location that gave the cues.” As such, the palette needed to complement, not fight against, the view. The idea was to create a comfortable, warm interior, but with a fresh and contemporary edge. Organic and natural textures were chosen in a bid to make the rooms feel harmonious with the setting. “We wanted to avoid the typical blue and white palette of beachside houses at all costs,” Isabella laughs. Bringing in richness was key, especially as the house was to be used year-round and the English coast can be stark in the winter. Olive block print fabrics were used, a Bauwerk paint finish applied to the walls for a layer of texture and lots of woven fabrics were chosen.

The kitchen island was drawn in the studio and made bespoke by Arcadia Antiques. The wall lights are from Jamb, and the kitchen is by 202 Design. The pendant lights over the island are from Norfolk Decorative Antiques, the tiles are H&E Smith.

Helen Cathcart

Art is integral to all Isabella Worsley interiors, so there’s little surprise this house is filled with choice pieces. “Once we had firmed up the direction of the interiors, but were still able to be malleable, we began to choose art that blended with the schemes.” Working closely with art consultant Olivia Paterson from Lyndsey Ingram Gallery, paintings both large and small were selected with the client, including an impactful piece by Kate Friend which hangs in the dining room. “What’s really brilliant is that the client has actually invested in more paintings by the same artists we chose for the project since its completion,” Isabella says. A stamp of approval indeed.

After two years of work, Isabella and her team put the finishing touches on the house last summer. A functional and welcoming family house, it is ready for quiet weekends away and high-energy hosting alike, which is testament to the skilled build led by Martin Taylor and Isabella Worsley. “We might have specified everything down to the chopping boards, but we were sure to leave room for the client to make their own mark on the house.”

Isabella Worsley | isabellaworsley.com/