Victorian Cottage Natural Evolution

Taking their time and using their skills as a fashion designer and a leather smith, the owners of this country cottage have created a characterful home filled with mementoes and auction-house.

- Natalie Wain

For many of us, the idea of carefully hand-crafting our surroundings in a truly personal way remains little more than a pipe dream. However, for artisan leather smith and chef Justin Capp, and his fashion designer partner Angelos Bratis, it comes naturally. Justin bought this idyllic cottage in rural Northamptonshire as a fixer upper in 1998. Over the intervening years, it has gradually evolved according to changing requirements and budget, and it was imbued with fresh perspective when Justin and Angelos met three years ago. Here, the creative couple tell us more about their home’s ongoing transformation.

Can you tell us about the location? 

JC We live in a wonderful little village in the Northamptonshire countryside. I was born in the house next-door-but-one, and have lived and worked here all my life. The house comprises two workers’ cottages (part of a row that was built in 1840) which were converted into one property during the 1920s.

What condition was the house in when you bought it?