POTTED HISTORY

This tiny cottage has been rebuilt brick by brick by Ana Perez and Alan Flett to create a cosy bolthole close to the Norfolk coast

- SARA BIRD

Living room

The original fireplace was small but the couple opted for a grand inglenook that makes the room spacious yet cosy at the same time. Stove, Esse

Living room

‘We spent four years buying things for this house in anticipation,’ says Ana. Chest of drawers, eBay. Lamp, Samarkand Design. Pheasant feather wreath, local Christmas market

Kitchen

Designer Elle Kemp helped with the colour scheme, drawing on the shades of a potting shed. Units painted in Chimney Brick, Little Greene. Zinc worktop with integrated sink, Metal Sheets UK

AT HOME WITH

Owners Ana Perez works in IT management and her husband Alan Flett is an IT consultant. They have a 10-year-old daughter, Isla.

House One-bedroom detached brick and flint period cottage in a conservation area, which they bought as a holiday home in 2015.

A lot of expectations were riding on this little house when Ana Perez and Alan Flett made the decision to buy. Alan had a yen to live in the countryside, but city-girl Ana was reluctant to leave London. The compromise seemed to be a shift to suburbia, but neither was sure this would be the best option. ‘We decided to buy a holiday home instead,’ says Ana. ‘We had fallen in love with Norfolk and started visiting at weekends before finding this place online, and it solved the dilemma. The cottage is in a lovely little hamlet backing on to a forest and it has a stream running down the side – it really is magical.’