James Lamont, 36, is a commercial lawyer and a partner at Cumberland Ellis Solicitors. He lives with his wife, Natalie, in rural Surrey, south-east England.
We wanted somewhere we could live, rather than just to eat and sleep. So, after three years in a one-bedroom flat in St John’s Hill, west London, we decided to look elsewhere. We wanted somewhere within an hour of London, on a radius westwards from Oxford round to Sussex. When we found this house, we loved it straight away. It’s a beautiful area and I have fond memories of visiting my grandparents on the south coast.
Our house is a four-bedroom cottage with a stable block, annexe and two acres of garden. It was built in 1974 as a bungalow, then converted to a two-storey house, which gives it an unusual but charming appearance.
We’re in proper countryside, at the foot of the Surrey hills, 12 minutes’ walk from Walliswood, four minutes’ drive from the nearest shop and a mile from the west Sussex border. We’re surrounded by farmland and woods and have only one neighbour. There are deer in the garden regularly and the birds wake us up every morning. Increasing numbers of rabbits are threatening Natalie’s new herb garden – persuading them not to is our next project.
I’ve hunted down the local tennis club but we haven’t played yet. We’ve done a lot of running and walking, though, around “our” lake and wood out back, and in the hills. Natalie’s currently canvassing opinion about whether it’s safe to swim in the lake.
We were nervous moving from London but the train journey is only an hour, so the wrench wasn’t so difficult. For my daily commute I drive to Ockley station, from where I always get a seat with a table. I work on the train to Clapham Junction, then jump on my scooter, which I keep at a friend’s house nearby. It takes an hour and half all told. It sounds hectic but it’s very relaxed actually.
Getting back isn’t such a breeze because I’d like to be home sooner after leaving work. Our location makes up for it in other ways. Driving home through leafy lanes after a weekend away is vastly preferable to wrestling London traffic, for example. Plus, we always try to fly from Gatwick as it’s only 20 minutes away.
We have plenty to do. Natalie’s been designing and installing bathrooms in London for the past five years, so she’s great at sorting out the house. We’re turning the annexe into a one-bedroom cottage and the stables will be an office and garden room. There’s much to do in the garden: digging out the pond, clearing the wood, dredging the stream ... It’s a whole range of exciting challenges.
