This elevated Regency townhouse with stunning harbour views owned by Rebecca and Matthew Roundell Jones has been beautifully restored to create a calm and elegant house with a real sense of history.
Whilst toying with the idea of moving out of London in 2014, Rebecca and her husband chanced upon the property during a trip to Falmouth where Matthew had studied fine art at university.
‘Once we caught sight of the ornate cornice and incredible views, there was no going back!’ says Rebecca, who worked as an interior designer in London for 15-years. ‘It was incredibly rundown as it had been left empty for a number of years, but I saw potential to create something really special.’
The previous owner was an eccentric who used it as a holiday home, hosting grand parties with a resident butler. She had evidently adored the house, which was completely filled with her treasures, but it had not been maintained and was in desperate need of rescuing.
‘Sadly, it had been left vacant and fallen into disrepair in recent years; the décor was an interesting mix of mustard-gloss, woodchip walls and ceiling with rooms a riot of purples and reds.’
Rebecca decided to treat the house as the client, taking her brief from the building itself; the first priority was rescuing the bones of the property and drying out the damp.
‘We chose to strip it right back, enabling us to highlight the intricate cornice, regency windows, original floorboards, Georgian fireplaces and plasterwork. We also uncovered some unique decorative painted plasterwork beneath plywood panels.’
Full of original features, Packet House is set over four-floors just a short walk from the Falmouth’s waterfront, with a stunning outlook across the harbour, towards Flushing and the Roseland - it was important to Rebecca to focus on creating a calm interior scheme that wouldn't detract. Simple, unstructured window dressings of linen clipped onto iron French poles, frame elegant picture-windows to maximise the views and calm interiors have been achieved through a palette of off-white and neutrals, using both limewash and eco emulsion.
‘The smaller bedroom looking over the rear of the property draws from the natural surrounds with touches of sage green in the Marthe Armitage print Roman blind and bathroom panelling to echo the walled garden.’
Built in 1820 for the master of several Packet Ships, Captain Clotworthy, the front of the house feels like a London townhouse with elegant rooms, high ceilings, refined fireplaces, and Regency windows.
‘It fronts onto an older building, more rustic in style, which reminded us of Barbara Hepworth's studio in St Ives. This part of the house was a warren of tiny tumble-down rooms and coal sheds but with a lovely, vaulted dining room. We opened up the space and added Crittal windows to maximise light and lend a contemporary feel, commissioning a local joiner to make the simple solid wood kitchen units. We also persuaded a local welder to have a go at crafting a zinc worktop as we wanted the surface to take on a soft patina with use.’
Rebecca and Matthew chose to restore as many original fittings as possible, spending every spare moment scouring reclamation yards for the perfect door handles and bathroom fittings.
‘The beautiful oval basin in the master bathroom was an eBay triumph and cost a mere £0.99p and the bathroom brass wear is either reclaimed and restored brass or Lefroy Brooks nickel. Much of the furniture in the house is antique - either inherited from my grandmother who had an extraordinary eye or found by us at antique sales or online.’
The painstaking restoration of the space that took around four years to complete, proved worth it for the intricate detail within the four walls.
‘My husband spent weeks on his knees scraping paint and plaster off the floorboards with a razor blade as we didn't want to sand them and loose the patina. The original regency windows were meticulously restored, and we sourced antique 'wobbly' glass to replace any cracked panes. We also stripped back the plaster walls to expose their beauty and refused to skim over the wobbly texture of the walls. We stained cheap white tiles in buckets of cold tea to fit around the range as we couldn’t budget for expensive artisan crackle glazed tiles.’
The elevated house sits in a quiet pedestrian terrace with a walled garden and a ‘suntrap summerhouse’ to the rear, making a fabulous spot for a morning coffee, or to read or work.
‘The house is an incredibly peaceful spot surrounded by gardens with a very old, but prolific wisteria which flowers twice a year and feels particularly romantic.’
A beautifully considered and luxurious home, Packet House comes with an abundance of characterful charm.
‘The master bedroom is a magical spot to watch life playing out across the harbour – from the little ferry boats pottering to-and-fro and the gig boats out in the early morning to the original oyster working boats racing and the fishermen returning with their daily catch.’
It’s also a brilliant base from which to explore Falmouth and the surrounding coast and countryside from.
The town itself offers a wealth of wonderful restaurants, boutiques and independent cafes and galleries, with fabulous beaches on the doorstep. Falmouth is a brilliant base for exploring the Roseland Peninsula, the Helford, the Lizard, St Ives, Penzance and the far west, with the popular surf beaches of the north coast just a short drive away, and the Eden Project and Fowey also within reach for day trips.
‘The spaces we spend time in have a huge effect on how we feel; we wanted the interiors at Packet House to bring life to the history of building and I hope our guests will get a sense of the past lives of the property.’
Packet House is available for short stays through Boutique Retreats, boutique-retreats.co.uk
