A ‘holiday’ camp for Suzuki Method training is exhausting -but it’s worth all the sacrifices, says Caroline Phillips

COUNTESS PACHTA has driven from Germany to stay in an English boarding school.

“Cold showers, queueing for food and being woken at night by false fire alarms is romantic,” she says. “We can’t do this at home.”

“I went to boarding school, so this is familiar,” adds Masamichi Yokoi, the president and chief executive of Daiwa Europe, a Japanese securities conglomerate.

“But I wasn’t expecting to sleep somewhere without a private bathroom.”

Meanwhile, Simon Bruce, a partner at the law firm Farrer & Co, has to sleep in a dormitory with his wife and four children. Down the corridor, Lord Strathclyde (the leader of the Conservatives in the House of Lords) is also sharing a bathroom with strangers. “Just like being back at school, except the food’s better,” he says.

This is my third year here, so I know to smuggle in La Fromagerie survival food parcels and my goosefeather pillow. You would hardly guess that we are here for our children to learn music.

“It’s wonderful to see the incredible progress my daughter makes in music in a short period,” says Yokoi. “It’s hard work for the parents,” adds Strathclyde, the father of three talented pianists. “But there are huge social, emotional and intellectual benefits for the children.” A four-year-old girl with bunches walks by carrying a violin that is one sixty-forth the size of a full concert violin. By the end of the week, like many of the children here, she will have performed a solo in front of up to 600 people.

This is the London Suzuki Group International Summer School, a week-long violin, viola, cello and piano course held each year at Bryanston School, in Dorset. It is organised by London teachers of Suzuki, a Japanese method of teaching music. There are 236 playing children, aged 4 to 17, with participants and 39 teachers from as far afield as Israel and Colombia. Plus enough pianos to stretch the length of Sloane Street.

All the Bryanston places were snapped up weeks before the closing date for applications. There was a long waiting list, which included children who had performed at the Royal Festival Hall. Why? Because it is inspirational. By the end there are phenomenal orchestral and chamber music performances by children who met only days before. It’s also like being back at school, except that parents have to observe all their children’s lessons. It’s exhausting and intensive.The Suzuki method was devised in the 1930s by Dr Shinchi Suzuki, who noted children’s capacity to learn their mother tongue fluently. If infants could master a complex language such as Japanese by the age of 6, he argued, they must be able to learn a musical instrument with comparable ease if training began at 2 or 3. Dr Suzuki challenged the belief in innate musical talent: “There is no such thing… the secret is repetition.”

Parental involvement and encouragement are prerequisites. Suzuki parents attend all their children’s private and group lessons throughout the year and oversee their daily practice. The triangle of parent, teacher and child is a defining feature of the method.

Parental involvement can be very useful in the early stages of learning and provides additional motivation -however, says Dr Susan Hallam, a music psychologist at the University of London, “as children become older they may rely on their parents, which is counter-productive”.

Learning is by listening, and sight-reading is delayed. “Because they learn to play by ear initially means that sometimes they find it difficult to read music,” says Hallam.

Some are sceptical about such intensive training for young children. “I’m against hot-housing,” says Helen Likierman, a clinical psychologist and Suzuki mum who has attended Bryanston since 1988. “But this is about developing self-motivation, self-confidence and a sense of achievement.”

There is no selection process for the summer school. The first year, my daughter Ella played in her concert with just her right hand after only three lessons: the teacher pointed out to her the correct playing finger. At Bryanston, under-7s study three hours a day; older children have private lessons. And group lessons.

Then there’s swimming, squash, tennis and meeting friends. The week costs Pounds 385 for children over 7 and the same for parents. “We can do it only because of a bursary,” says Collette Morris, the deputy head of a state primary school and a Bryanston regular. Her eldest son once sold his saxophone to contribute to his brother’s fees. “Lots of people struggle to do Suzuki. I’ve cancelled my pension contributions to pay for it.”

Dr Suzuki’s intention wasn’t to produce professional musicians; he nursed a deeper purpose. Yehudi Menuhin recalled him saying that his ambition was to create amateurs who might give themselves the joy of music and contribute to the harmony of society. Dr Suzuki believed in developing sensitivity, discipline, endurance and a beautiful heart. As I watch my children performing in their concerts, I think he got it right.

*Details of the next school (August 21-28) from lsg@suzukimusic.net

GERALDINE and Michael Leventis cannot resists holiday souvenirs.

First there was the old farmhouse in the Lot in France, which they saw when they were on holiday in 1989. Then they had a vacation on the Greek island of Kea in 1994 and fell in love with a derelict mansion. So, naturally, they bought it. Next they travelled to Cape Town three years ago… and, well, you know how these things happen.

Geraldine is the owner of Raoul’s Cafe and Raoul’s Deli in Maida Vale and is opening another cafe in Notting Hill this month. (If you’re passionate about property, why not?) A former self-professed “bored housewife”, it was a former dinner guest, the late Francis Bacon, who pressed her to open her own restaurant in 1985. Now her shops have become legendary for their home-cooked Mediterranean cuisine consumed by visitors such as Kate Moss, Christian Slater, Russell Crowe and Björk.

Chasing a property deal is the ultimate adrenaline rush for Geraldine. All but the most hardened property addicts would have given up after the couple’s experience of buying a house in Greece. “We were on holiday and had no intention of buying,” confesses Geraldine. “But then we came across this wonderful derelict neoclassical house on top of the acropolis of Kea.” “Originally it was built for the first prime minister of Greece,” intercepts Michael, her husband and an artist. “The Temple of Apollo had stood there in 300BC. Our steps are made from its plinth.”

Geraldine takes up the story: “It took five years’ of red tape before we could get permission to restore the house to its original state. We almost gave up.”

Once they got the go-ahead, there was still an uphill struggle. “We had to transport everything using mules because there is no access to the hill,” explains Geraldine. “Cast iron-baths and suchlike all had to be carried up on their backs!”

Work on the three-bedroom house was finished in a year. The property cost them £100,000. And how much did they spend on it? Geraldine bursts out laughing. “More than £400,000,” she replies.

They decorated it in neoclassical style and filled it with French and English late 19th century furniture, which they shipped over.

Now they spend Greek Easter and two weeks in the summer holidays there.

Buying in Cape Town was simple by comparison. “It’s the least problematic place in which to buy,” reveals Michael. “Everything’s well organised and the builders stick to their schedule and budget.” Naturally, they hadn’t intended to buy a home there. “We were staying in a hotel in Constanzia,” explains Geraldine, “and every day these estate agents would appear after breakfast for appointments with the guests.

“Eventually we thought, ‘Well, what’s this about?’

Out of pure nosiness, we started looking at houses.” And 10 days later they had found one. “It was really good value,” she says cheerfully. “It only cost £150,000.”

The house wasn’t attractive – it is a twobedroom Sixties redbrick bungalow – but it had spectacular gardens, a view of Table Mountain and a swimming pool on the terrace. “We plastered over the red brick and the architects did an amazing job. It looks very Hollywood now.” They spent £200,000 on renovations. (“We’ve already been offered to sell it for double our outlay,” smiles Michael.) The main house has two bedrooms and there is a luxurious guest cottage with one big bedroom and a sitting room. It has a contemporary look, with eclectic furniture from London: from various Fornisetti pieces to a Salvador Dali lip sofa and zebra skins.

Do they know why they became addicted to property? “Michael loves projects,” Geraldine smiles. “I like interacting with architects, choosing materials and visualising the finished project,” adds Michael. “Once we have handed over the money, my role is simply to approve everything,” Geraldine laughs. “To sit there and say, ‘I love it!'”

SHE designed the oak and limestone dining table herself; and the Bulthaup kitchen units were fashioned to her specifications. The modern oak and steel staircase, which leads up from the basement and has lights embedded at foot level, well, that was constructed from her blueprint, too. And let’s not forget who sketched the ergonomic workstation with floating bookshelves and mobile storage – and the delicate, armless sofa in the window of the drawing room. Indeed there’s very little in her house that doesn’t bear testimony to the talented hand of Gail Taylor, the Taylor part of leading interior design duo Taylor Howes.

Gail and her husband Simon, a finance director, moved into the 3,000sq ft early Victorian stucco home in west London eight years ago. “I was pregnant with my first daughter,” says Gail, who is petite and blonde and wears jeans. “We’d been living in Holland Park but needed more space.” She transformed the groundfloor dining room into a drawing room.

The first-floor drawing room was altered structurally to become a master bedroom, walkthrough dressing room and bathroom. And the master suite was turned into a children’s room.

As the family has grown – the couple now have three children under the age of 10 – Gail has altered the Grade II listed house to adapt to their changing needs.

“When you have three kids you no longer have smart dinner parties,” she laughs. So two years ago she knocked down the walls of the basement, making it an open plan family room and extending it with a glass front. “It was a massive structural job. We had to move out,” she groans. “There are no foundations and our home was practically held up by the houses on either side.” She pauses. “Although the alterations were expensive they’ve proved a good investment.”

Gail has created an overall look that is peaceful, clean and modern. “The basement is contemporary and from the ground floor up the style is classic contemporary,” she explains, sipping tea. “You can do that with a tall house.”

The family room boasts an island with a chunky white top and stainless-steel worksurface surrounded by bar stools with chrome stalks, cupboards with sandblasted glass doors, glass shelves, Gaggenau appliances and wide, washed oak floorboards that extend into the garden.

On one side of the room is the dining area with woven chairs from Interdesign and oak and limestone table; on the other, an L-shaped sofa in “childproof ” oatmeal rib chenille, Buddha picture, bespoke gas fireplace and Loewe flat screen television. “The kitchen’s designed for cooking performances!” reveals Gail, who started her career as a kitchen designer in the Eighties.

“Simon’s a great cook. We love entertaining casually. And it’s so nice if guests can sit on a sofa and chat to him while he’s creating.”

Additionally, everything is stored – even the utility area is hidden behind sliding cupboard doors. “I’m the queen of storage,” admits Gail. “I always tell people to lose the clutter. It makes life more relaxed.”

Family and elegance may be an oxymoron. But not in this house. “We use our home for everyday, busy family life,” reveals Gail. Does she really have children? Well, sneak upstairs and you find her son’s bedroom – with his name painted in big letters around the room and a denim blind with denim pockets in which to put his toys. And her daughters’ room has fuchsia felt upholstered headboards, white walls (“they’re always asking when I’m going to paint the walls”) and a colourful playhouse that cleverly doubles as a wardrobe and toy cupboard.

But somehow the chaos of family life hasn’t impacted on Gail’s home, which is filled with flowers and Buddhas. Just take a look at her staircase with its taupe runner with suede border. Or her hallway with its polished plaster walls and cream saturna floor. And as for the glamorous drawing room, well, it’s cream and ivory (I ask you!) with soft taupe sea grass on the walls, a William Yeoward cream sofa covered with exotic cushions, Fox Linton’s John Hutton club chairs upholstered decadently in cream kids’ skin and cream silk Abbot and Boyd curtains, which hang delicately off glass McKinney Kidston curtain poles. A simple contemporary walnut cupboard hides the television. “The children aren’t banned from here,” protests Gail, laughing. “It’s their favourite spot for watching DVDs!”

The couple’s own room is a luxurious sanctuary with an eclectic mix of modern design and treasured items collected on their travels. It has a lacquered Japanese triptych above the contemporary four-poster bed, antique Chinese bedside tables and curtains of soft camel Jim Thompson oriental silk, which hang prettily from dark ebony arrowhead poles. There are bespoke stained-oak wardrobes with sandblasted doors, a bed throw made of woven leather lined with suede, an Interior Bis chaise longue upholstered in Bruno Triplet mohair in front of the fire … oh, and a clean, child-friendly cream carpet, of course.

Now what’s that they say about the patter of tiny feet?

Picture captions Left: the mark of Gail Taylor, the Taylor part of leading interior design duo Taylor Howes, is seen everywhere in her early Victorian stucco home, which is decorated along peaceful, clean and modern lines. Right: at home with the family

Dream cuisine: the family room boasts an island with a chunky white top and stainless-steel worksurface surrounded by bar stools with chrome stalks, cupboards with sandblasted glass doors, glass shelves, Gaggenau appliances and wide, washed oak floorboards that extend into the garden

Below: the chaos of family life hasn’t impacted on Gail’s home, which is filled with flowers and Buddhas and even dares to have a cream-and-ivory drawing room with soft taupe sea grass on the walls

Ancient and modern: a lacquered Japanese triptych sits above the dark ebony four-poster bed, with its curtains of soft camel Jim Thompson oriental silk

High maintenance: in the drawing room, chairs are upholstered decadently in cream goatskin

Made to pleasure: the bedroom’s bespoke stained-oak wardrobe has sandblasted doors. Top: African art collected on Gail’s travels adds the finishing touch

INSIDER KNOWLEDGE SHOPPING
Design: Taylor Howes Designs, 29 Fernshaw Road, SW10 (020 7349 9017).
Kitchen: design by Rob Gelling at Bulthaup (01865 426990). Appliances: Gaggenau (0870 840 2003; www.gaggenau.com).
Fireplace: Platonic fireplaces,Phoenix Wharf, Eel Pie Island, Twickenham, Middlesex (020 8891 5904).
Fabrics: silk by Jim Thompson at Fox Linton, Unit 2/19, Chelsea Harbour Design Centre, SW10 (020 7368 7700).
Chairs: John Hutton’s Ensemble range at Fox Linton (as before).
Lighting: Sally Storey at John Cullen Lighting, 585 King’s Road, SW6 (020 7371 5400).
Furniture: L-shaped family room sofa, Interdesign, G30, Chelsea Harbour Design Centre, SW10 (020 7376 5272), other sofa, William Yeoward, 270 King’s Road, SW3 (020 7349 7828), chaise longue, Interior Bis, 76 Chelsea Manor Street, SW3 (020 7351 1571), curtain poles, McKinney Kidston, Studio P, The Old Imperial Laundry, 71 Warriner Gardens, SW11 (020 7627 5077).
Wallpaper: “Schumacher” by Turnell & Gigon, ground floor, Chelsea Harbour Design Centre, SW10 (020 8971 1711).
Pots: Casalla Design, 2 Caranday Villas, Norland Road, W11 (020 7603 9802).

WHEN Edith Ettedgui and her husband, Franklin, wanted to buy an apartment in which to live while their Belgravia home was being gutted, they were not interested in dealing with more builders. Which is why they chose a split-level flat in west London that had just been renovated to the highest standard. “It was perfect, exactly what we wanted,” explains Ettedgui, who comes from Tours.

And then a strange thing happened … the couple fell in love with the property and decided to live there permanently.

The Ettedguis bought the 3,230sq ft apartment two years ago and moved in two weeks after the purchase – having bought the furniture for it within that time.

“My husband went shopping with his brother, Joseph [the clothes designer],” explains Ettedgui. “They certainly knew what they liked.”

They even purchased pieces that were in the show flat, brought in by interior designer Concetto Marletta of Centimetro Interiors. “I loved his choice of B&B sofa,” laughs Ettedgui. “So we bought it.”

The ground- and lower-ground-floor flat is in a grand 1850s building, which was converted into flats in the 1930s. It has high ceilings, huge rooms and many original features – from cornices to “characterful” Thirties brass-andiron banisters.

The flat had been transformed by Marletta and the developers from a fivebedroom flat, which had not been touched since the Sixties and had had a grotty plunge pool and dark rooms featuring clashing flowery wallpapers, into a luxurious three-bedroom apartment with lots of Zen-like space. “It has amazing fivemetre-high ceilings with space and light,” says Ettedgui, in her French accent.

The developers and Marletta had not skimped: they had incorporated one “very functional” stainless-steel Arclinea kitchen with Sub Zero fridge freezer and wine cellar – “a real luxury; you can control the temperatures of the different areas” – and Miele appliances; another kitchen (“for entertaining”) with white Carrara marble surfaces; B&B Italia wenge bedroom wardrobes; and a snazzy Lutron Homeworks system controlling everything from lighting to televisions, security and Bose sound system that serves every room.

“Look at this,” beckons Ettedgui, bending inside a cupboard with a pilots’ cockpit of electrical switches.

The lighting – from recessed floor-level ones to Thirties-style wall lights, chandeliers and twinkling “stars” embedded in a wall – is clever. “I adore this chandelier,” she reveals, standing beside a Tom Kirk hall-light fitting, which required five men to hang it and is made from test tubes and bronze. “We wanted something modern that still keeps the flat’s Thirties feel,” says Marletta. (The Ettedguis liked his work so much they retained him to add the final touches to the flat after they moved in.) The look is luxurious minimalist with a classic twist. Where once there was a swimming pool, for instance, there is now a television room with Le Corbusier armchairs and chrome angle-poise lamps.

There are acres of neutral colours (shaded white walls, fawn carpets, walnut f loorboards, Fox Linton taupe linen curtains plus wenge, ebony and Chinese black lacquer throughout); furniture in le style Frank, inspired by French 1930s decorator genius Jean-Michel Frank; and an exotic blend of ancient Asian and Western contemporary art. “The colours are in the art,” explains Ettedgui.

The drawing room displays Thirties chairs, black-leather Ciancimino console tables and a beautiful contemporary mushroom silk-velvet sofa by Grillo Demo for David Gill. “It takes six people comfortably,” laughs Ettedgui. “Joseph gave it to us. He gets all his furniture from David Gill.” She uses the room for pre-dinner drinks and Sunday afternoon tea “with my friends, two grownup daughters and a nine-month-old granddaughter”, explains Ettedgui, who also has two dogs.

The master bedroom (“like an apartment within an apartment”) is on the same floor.

A dressing room is hidden behind a sliding glass door. “Sorry, it’s very messy,” says Ettedgui. The bathroom is behind another door. It has limestone and walnut fittings and a television set into the wall. “I watch TV in the bath. It’s fantastic.”

The bedroom has an oriental-style wooden bedhead and a satin upholstered sofa (designed by India Mahdavi, former assistant to Christian Liagre), and there are unusual lamps (including a budding flower one designed by Ayala Serfaty and made of plastified fabric), sharks’ skin console tables, Picasso drawings and a dressing area behind a stud wall, which divides the room and also contains a recessed television. “It’s the only bedroom I’ve ever enjoyed when I’ve been unwell and had to stay in bed,” Ettedgui smiles.

Upstairs is a capacious hallway with vanilla satin Art Deco chairs, Chinese Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) pottery figures and a fireplace with limestone surround designed by Marletta. “It’s when I saw this,” Ettedgui motions with her hand, “that I knew I had to have the flat.” It’s easy to see why.

Picture captions Liner style: Thirties attention to detail is important in halls as well as rooms, and in the bedroom beyond, oriental touches add a flavour of worldly elegance. In the hall, uplighters and neat Roman blinds work well

Touch of luxury: the main kitchen, used for entertaining, includes white Carrara marble surfaces

Chic: French-born Edith Ettedgui has plenty of space in her drawing room for friends, family and her dogs

Simple and functional: an Arclinea kitchen with Miele appliances is for everyday use

Comfortable: a mushroom silk-velvet sofa by Grillo Demo for David Gill in the drawing room

Warm look: Edith Ettedgui fell in love with the limestone surround fireplace that was designed by Concetto Marletta

Red letter: signature notes of colour are used carefully to accent the whole room. Flowers were supplied by Carter Cherrill Master Florist (020 7225 3725; www.cartercherrill.co.uk)

Switched on: many lamps in the house are designed by Ayala Serfaty and Tom Kirk

HOW TO GET THE LOOK
Interior design CentiMetro Interiors: 9 The Enclave, 2 Dallington Street, EC1 (020 7251 2010).
Furniture David Gill Gallery: 60 Fulham Road, SW3 (020 7589 5946) and by appointment at 3 Loughborough Street, SE11 (020 7793 1100).
Ciancimino: 99 Pimlico Road, SW1 (020 7730 9950).
India Mahdavi: 3 rue Las Cases, 75007 Paris (00 33 1 45 55 67 67).
Lighting Ayala Serfaty: Budding Flower lamp in the bedroom is designed by Ayala Serfaty from David Gill Gallery (as before).
Tom Kirk: lighting designer. Call 020 8766 6715.
Antiques Guinevere: 574-580 King’s Road, SW6 (020 7736 2917; www.guinevere.co.uk).
Kitchen units B&B Italia: 250 Brompton Road, SW3 (020 591 8111; www.bebitalia.it).
Kitchen appliances Sub Zero: Call 020 8418 3800, or visit www.subzero.eu.com.
Miele: Call 01235 554455, or visit www.miele.co.uk.
Marble and stone Stone Age: Unit 3, Parsons Green Depot, Parsons Green Lane, SW6 (020 7384 9090; www.estone.co.uk).
Hi-fi Bose: Call 0800 107 4999, or visit www.bose.co.uk.
Electrical and security controls Lutron Homeworks: Call 020 7702 0657, or visit www.lutron.com.

SHE will fire your cook in Portuguese and arrange for your shoes to be put into boxes with Polaroid shots of them on the outside; help you buy, decorate and let your houses; try to get your daughter into Francis Holland, organise dinner for three or 300, personally scrutinise your Bahamas holiday home or fly masseurs to meet you in Cannes and return in your private jet.

Meet Lady Cosima Somerset – Cozzy to her buddies and clients – director of Concierge London. She has blonde hair (colour by Sejours, cut by Robert Casson) and is wearing natural makeup (“Trish McEvoy, at Harvey Nichols, is the best – I always go there before a party,” says Cosima) and sexy Jimmy Choo boots with Agnes B clothes.

Aged 43, she has a great body, (“Tim Bean, who charges £5,000 for a 12-week programme, changes your shape,”) and may have sought the services of Dr Elizabeth Dancey (“Britain’s leading dermatologist – amazing skin prick nutrition treatments”) and Yannis Alexandrides (“tops for laser treatments for the skin and botox”). She is also sweet, professional and funny.

Her clients range from her aunt, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, to Jemima Khan, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, Mark Birley and Tamara Mellon. Let’s have some gossip, then. “No way!” But she knows everybody, doesn’t she? “No,” laughs Cosima, daughter of the Marquess of Londonderry and former wife of Cosmo Fry and Lord John Somerset. “But I certainly intend to.”

Concierge London membership costs £4,000 plus VAT a year. For this, clients get two free requests (up to an hour’s work) a month. “We’ll research a hotel in Barbados or buy something for you.”

Services thereafter cost £30 an hour, charged in quarter-hour slots – so, booking a restaurant costs £7.50.

Relocating people and organising parties is their forte; the most frequent request is for hiring and firing, though catering is high on the list – “We use Organic Express. The food is superb.”

Concierge London was started in 1999.

Clients live mostly in Belgravia, Hampstead, Chelsea and Kensington. “They want help managing their houses,” says Cosima, a former television researcher and mother of two. She likes long-term relationships. “The more we know clients, the better the service works.”

She says the secret of her success is simple. “It’s the scope and quality of our service, attention to detail and absolute discretion. And understanding our discerning members’ needs.” Add to that the ability to deal with bizarre requests.

“I’m always flying facialists to Paris and jetting off across the world to view houses. It no longer seems unusual.” She claims to always succeed. “Even if things sometimes take a while.” She pauses.

“But rich people always want everything done by tomorrow, at the latest.”

Concierge London, Studio D3, The Depot, 2 Michael Road, SW6 (020 7736 2244; www.conciergelondon.co.uk).

INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: COZZY’S CONTACTS

Maria Clancy: Organic Express – Caterers Who Care (020 7277 6147; email maria organic-express.com).
Tim Bean: personal trainer at the Insitute of Physique Management (07947 329696).
Dr Elizabeth Dancey: dermatological treatments (020 7821 8257).
Yannis Alexandrides: for skin treatments (020 7486 8055).
Hairdressers Karl and Luke: the former for colour and the latter for styling, at Sejours, 3 Bray Place, SW3 (020 7589 1100).
Robert Casson: hairdresser who makes house calls (07956 810265).

WHEN Vanessa Higgins first saw the mill house from a nearby public path, she ran back to her waiting husband, David, excitedly proclaiming: “Wow.”

The mill, in a tiny Wiltshire hamlet, is an 18th century building with waterside gardens and paddocks, but a mill was recorded on the site in the Doomsday Book.

“It took months to purchase,” recalls Vanessa, 39.

“We had pulled out of buying a property in Devon at the last minute, then found the mill. It was just so pretty – the perfect family home.” But it wasn’t cheap. It was on the market for £1.3 million, but the drawn-out negotiations – which took not much short of a year – worked in the couple’s favour. By the time it came to agree money, the market had dropped.

“We paid a little over £900,000,” says Vanessa.

“Which was considerably less than we had offered initially.”

So, how many bedrooms does it have? Vanessa is not so sure with these numbers: “I don’t know … one, two, three … six – no, seven.” But the layout is, admittedly, rather complicated; the living areas are in the old mill and the bedrooms are spread among two attached cottages. But, all in all, there is ample space for David and Vanessa, David’s three children from his first marriage, two children with Vanessa, their dalmatian and highland terrier – and the energy consultancy business the couple run from home.

The family moved into the mill in 2001; the previous owners had been there for 20 years but their children were now grownup. “It was quite dilapidated,” says Vanessa. “Water was running down the walls and it was a bit smelly and damp, having been left empty for a while. It also needed major plumbing work.” Other problems were more instantly obvious: “It hadn’t been touched for years. The walls were covered in buttoned green fabric and psychedelic herringbone wallpapers.”

It was stripping these off the walls that revealed the “cracks, bits falling off and treacherous wiring”. Vanessa laughs: “We felt glad we had survived.”

The house is listed, of course, so there were constraints on the refurbishment.

“We weren’t allowed to alter anything at all on the outside, but we won approval to make changes on the inside, mainly because these preserved and improved the house,” says Vanessa, who is particularly taken with the approved dampproofing material – “like mega-giant bubble wrap”.

Some walls were removed to open up internal spaces, and a conservatory was built to provide a dining area. The kitchen windows were enlarged (“it was so closed up and dark”). Finally, another conservatory was built to provide a link to a barn, which is now a double garage and an office.

A local joiner built the home’s three new staircases, but a crew of builders had to travel down every day from Birmingham to turn the Seventies kidney-shaped swimming pool into a state-of-the-art 12-metre model.

“We lived in a building site for a year. We thought it would all take six months, but after two years we are only just finishing.” And then there was the bill.

“We spent about £500,000,” she says.

The results are an interesting fusion of traditional and modern: a large and original buttress in the new open-plan kitchen area has a bespoke modern cabinet hanging from it, for example. A glass panel in the kitchen floor looks onto the mill stream, while a cool, flat TV is suspended from an antique timber eave in the couple’s bedroom.

In the bathroom, a freestanding roll-top bath, Thirties-style polished chrome fittings and Art Deco-style walnut and bird’s-eye maple furniture are juxtaposed with contemporary sandblasted doors and panels for the walk-in shower.

There are cream carpets, Travertine and oak floors and white walls. (“I might introduce colour later. But I wanted to make it light.” ) Authentic Art Deco furniture sits alongside Simon Bray’s modern bespoke GK Design furniture and contemporary John Lewis pieces. Boys toys include a fancy Bang & Olufsen sound system that can be turned on by remote control anywhere in the house.

“We spent more than £30,000 on B&O; one of the TVs was £11,000 alone,” says Vanessa. She is looking at the specially built and studded sitting room wall that was recessed to take the Odeon-sized beast.

“You can even turn the telephones down by remote control,” she chirrups.

The kitchen is by Bray, too, and is something of a focal point, with black granite surfaces, lacquered cupboards, glass-fronted cabinets and Miele appliances. A large and bright open space has been divided with furniture by Bray. A glass-topped curved oak bar with chrome and leather stools connects the cooking area to the conservatory and the family room. “Even when I’m cooking, I’m still in touch with everyone,” she says.

NICHOLAS Logsdail, owner of the Lisson Gallery, is one of the art world’s most powerful figures. So it’s strange to discover that his first home was up a tree. “My parents had a big Arts & Crafts house in Buckinghamshire,” says Logsdail. When he was 14, he moved to the bottom of the garden.

“I’d built a treehouse. It had a first-floor bedroom, a room below, another bedroom and a balcony.” It was more like an apartment, really. “I lived there during the school holidays,” he smiles. “It had a paraffin stove, electricity and I hotwired it to install a telephone.”

Logsdail’s first home purchase was in 1967 in Bell Street, Marylebone. “I was a country boy. I came out of Marylebone Station, didn’t know London, turned into Bell Street….” Since then Logsdail, 59, has owned endless buildings in the street. He bought number 68 when he first married, number 54 in 1991, which he turned into his gallery, the Lisson, and 27, where he lives. Oh, and 31-37 where he lived with his second wife. “I don’t have a passion for property,” he claims. “I just love interesting buildings.”

He designed the first gallery, working with the builders. “I’m an amateur architect,” explains Logsdail, who represents artists Julian Opie, Douglas Gordon and Anish Kapoor. “We made it from two early-19th century tumbledown buildings I bought in 1966 and 1972.” The current Bell Street premises were a collaboration with Modernist architect Tony Fretton.

“We worked together on the design for two years.” The exterior of the new build has metal-clad panels and large glazed picture windows, while the interior gallery space was originally three back yards. “It has a feelgood factor, doesn’t it?”

In 1981, Logsdail found another derelict property – a 40,000sq ft brownstone block of 22 flats on New York’s Lower East Side.

Now the Notting Hill of New York, at the time the area was rough. “It had been a drug dealers’ squat and was boarded up.

The price was $1,000 an apartment – $22,000 in total. Lots of people were after it. I had to find the 10 per cent deposit within two hours.”

Logsdail acted instantly and acquired the building. Then the problems started.

“There was a $45,000 bill to pay, because the city taxes hadn’t been paid for 15 years. Things had to be done urgently to stop squatters moving in,” he says.

“Suddenly I owed $150,000 for upkeep plus $150,000 legal costs. I’d bitten off more than I could chew.” A year later he sold the building. “I recouped my costs and kept three large apartments.” Now he owns only one flat.

The experience did not discourage him from tackling another derelict building that needed his artistic touch – a 14th century farmhouse in a charming village in the Maltese island of Gozo. He bought it in 1984 for £8,000 and took 18 years to restore it. “I spent nearly two decades mixing cement and carrying around building blocks.” It now has a private courtyard, large mill room, kitchen, five double bedrooms and a tower with bedrooms offering island views. “It’s beautiful. I was sad to give it away when I divorced.”

In 2003, Logsdail visited friends in Kenya. “I thought I’d get some dreaded disease, be robbed and murdered.”

Instead he discovered Lamu – “an idyllic, safe island on the Indian Ocean” – and an 18th century, 6,000sq ft Swahili house with exquisite carvings and stacks of antique furniture. An elderly English couple were selling the house and contents.

“It has an exotic Arabian Nights feel and the original harem quarters,” he divulges.

“I took a no-money down lease for five years with an option to buy at a fixed price – on the condition that I restored the building. It wasn’t difficult to organise, just slow.”

To rent the Lamu house for £1,000 to £2,000 a week, email Nicholas@lisson.

co.uk. To rent the Gozo house, email Caroline Logsdail at stellamaris safeserve.com.

Artistic touches: Nicholas Logsdail (above) restored this 14th century farmhouse in Gozo, with its spacious mill room (below) and (above, right) terrace for entertaining, and hammock for relaxing (above, far left).