Julian and Holly Chichester reconcile their busy careers and their dream of living in the country with a weekend cottage by the Solent and an idyllic beach hut nearby

Furniture designer Julian Chichester lives life on the move. His factory is in Ho Chi Minh City, so he spends at least two months a year in Vietnam overseeing the making of his designs while his wife Holly produces advertising shoots all over the world. Home is in west London, where their children Linus, eight, Silvy, seven, and Ptolemy, three, are at school, and although they all dream of moving to the country, for the time being their careers keep them in town. But a rented cottage in the New Forest, with a family beach hut nearby, provides the perfect escape.

The four-bedroom former coastguard's cottage is only an hour-and-a-half's drive from London, but it feels like the back of beyond. Standing in a row of ten cottages, mostly inhabited by local families, it looks across the Solent and towards the mouth of the River Beaulieu. Inside, Julian's sleek furniture is mixed with junkshop finds and Vietnamese treasures. Open fireplaces and deep sofas suggest that this is a place for all seasons, but in the summer the family loves to spend time outdoors.

For Julian, who grew up nearby, the cottage is the ideal way to give his children the sort of fun that he had as a boy. “It would be impossible to buy down here, but coming here at weekends is always an adventure,” he says. Just a mile and a half away, the beach hut that was built by Julian's grandmother in 1958 completes the idyll. “It is my favourite place in the world, especially in midsummer. We spend most days here, and the children spend hours digging for ragworm,” he says, gesturing towards the enormous expanse of beach left by the racing tides. “Then in the evening we sit out here with a candle, a bottle of wine and a rod, and fish for sea bass.”

The beach house, with new teak doors made by Julian's factory, is larger than it looks. From the outside, it appears to be a fishing hut, but inside there is a bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen, with the 1950s Baby Belling installed by his grandmother. “It's like the Tardis,” says Holly. “In August, we come down here with friends for a week, lighting fires outdoors at night and staying up to put the world to rights.” Food is either fished for or bought from George Heathcote's farm shop near Lymington – “he sells wonderful poultry, meat and seasonal vegetables,” says Holly – and barbecued on the beach.

Bobbing on the Solent on a buoy 20 metres in front of the cottage is Julian's pride and joy, a motor boat called Sunny Day. “She is fantastically ugly but gets us to the most beautiful places,” he says. “In 20 minutes we can be fishing in Newtown Creek on the Isle of Wight.” Julian is always prepared to go the extra mile for the ultimate escape. Using a mantra as useful in a M3 traffic jam as on an plane to Ho Chi Minh, he beckons his family on board: “Come on,” he shouts. “It will be worth it when we get there.”

Julian Chichester, The Imperial Laundry, 71 Warriner Gardens, London SW11 4XW, (020) 7622 2928; www.julianchichester.com.

FEATURE DAISY BRIDGEWATER
PHOTOGRAPHS SIMON BROWN
SEPTEMBER 2005