A Hastings home packed full of colourful character

If you were looking for a word to describe the period home in Edwin Road, Hastings bland would not be one of them.
Edwin RoadEdwin Road
Edwin Road

Through the bright pink door you are greeted with an eclectic mix of owner Annemarie Widley’s passions - wallpaper and items collected during her time as an event stylist.“I have just collected things over the years that I have been able to show off in my home,” she says.“My vice is wallpaper though, I just love buying it and have been collecting pieces for the last 20 years, I suppose there are worse vices to have.”Annemarie moved into the property in the highly sought-after Clive Vale location four years ago when it was painted white from top to bottom, the first thing she did was wallpaper a chimney breast using some she had bought in Amsterdam.“I am an interior designer and was sick of whites, creams and greys so wanted colour in my home and it makes you happy doesn’t it so I wanted to do that,” she adds.

Having lived in other areas of Sussex including Lewes, Annemarie was looking for somewhere that had a buzzing creative hub when someone suggested Hastings.“I just loved it as there is so much going on, music, comedy and creatives like myself I just really felt like I fit in here,” enthuses Annemarie.

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Set over four floors the Victorian semi has four bedrooms, two reception rooms, a summer room, kitchen, toilet and separate bathroom. Although adding a contemporary twist with the Vivienne Westwood and Christian Lacroix wallpapers and bright painted walls Annemarie has kept many period features and the hard wood flooring.

Edwin RoadEdwin Road
Edwin Road

After finding the property online Annemarie fell in love with the garden after the first viewing, and on moving in it had an extensive makeover.“We spent about £22,000 on it as it was a watercress farm,” she says. “We added a drainage system, vegetable patch and loads of plants.“It is a magnificent space, I made sure there are so many plants and you can just sit there and enjoy the space feeling like you are in the countryside with herons, frogs, dragonflies, foxes and badgers.”

The garden is just one of the many things Annemarie will miss about the house, when asked she says - ‘everything’.“I really love the kitchen it is a great party space,” she smiles.“I had a band play in there once. You can also be cooking and chatting to people in the snug which is really cosy in the winter months with the wood burner, or in the summer you can open all the windows into the summerhouse.“It really is a great space.“I also love the Downton Abbey room.”

Set in Edwin Road, which Annemarie says is very quiet, it is a short walking distance from Hastings Old Town, and nearby there is a pond an area she adds would be great for a family to enjoy.

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Moving out with a heavy heart Annemarie is excited about a new town and new chapter in her life.She says: “It will be a blank painting palette, which isn’t really a bad thing.”

Edwin RoadEdwin Road
Edwin Road

The property is on the market with a guide price of £550,000 with Knight and Knoxley, 5 George Street, Old Town, Hastings, 01424 31 00 00 www.knightandknoxley.com

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