The '˜upside down' house that is a Sussex High Point

“The chance of that happening is zero,” agrees Loo Bartley, before explaining exactly how it happened.

“I am from South Africa and I took the family back to see where I used to live.

“We were near Cape Town and we got on a jeep for a safari where we met a lady who lived in Sussex,” she recalls.

“It turned out we knew lots of mutual friends but not each other, which in the middle of Africa was very strange.”

The conversation soon turned to Loo’s hopes for a New England style home – sparked, she says, by her love of verandas – on a plot in Cuckfield, West Sussex, and how the planning permission process wasn’t going well.

“She said ‘my husband is an architect, when we get back let me get him to look at the plot and see if he can help’.

“His name is Tom Wright and when he did visit he fell in love with it.”

Loo outlined what she would like and highlighted her passion for the ‘upside down’ homes, commonly found in Africa and Australia, due to the way they make the most of the views.

“I was expecting him to come back with a rectangle but it was this half circle which I loved,” Loo smiles.

“I suppose it was never going to be normal.”

Much like the views, the interior is breathtaking and captures your attention from the moment you walk in.

The open-plan space and clean lines mean there is nothing to distract you from enjoying the simply stylish, and purposefully easy living, design.

“I am a perfectionist, if you want it right you have to think of the finer details,” Loo insists. “I love the upstairs living area. It is great and the cinema room at night is brilliant.

“We wanted a pool table down there so I made the sofa lower so you can sit on the back of it and play.”

This exemplary level of detail is apparent throughout the five bedroom property, which took a year and a half to build and has been Loo’s home for a further two, from the elevated ceilings to the engineered oak flooring.

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