An atmospheric 18th-century workers' cottage in historic Greenwich
Stepping into the 18th-century workers’ cottage that belongs to Anna Rhodes and Fred Scott is much like stepping back in time. With its working fireplace, period-appropriate palette and narrow staircase, you would be forgiven for assuming the house has been brilliantly preserved, handed down from one conscientious custodian to another. Yet, when this creative couple first moved in, the cottage was almost unrecognisable from its current state.
“A family had been living here for twenty years and the house had been pretty neglected,” explains Anna, a production and interior designer who worked on Raine Allen Miller’s 2023 film, Rye Lane, and is currently working on Harris Dickinson’s directorial debut. “The ground floor had a paper thin 90s extension on it, with very mean little windows, and all the original panelling had been covered up with postwar tongue and groove panelling or plastering.”
The renovation journey began by removing any unfaithful and unsightly additions to the building. As Anna says, “we slowly started peeling away layers of the building, travelling back through the decades until we hit the Georgian layer.” Perhaps the finest discovery was in the space that is now the dining room. “There was a tiny Victorian fireplace that was completely wrong for the scale of the room,” Anna recalls. “It started coming loose when we were removing the tongue and groove panelling around it, so we took a crowbar to it and discovered the original hearth." Unexpectedly, Anna elected to leave the space empty. "Now you get to imagine what would have been there, rather than trying to replicate it. I tried hard not to do reproduction stuff. I prefer to let the building do the talking.”
Instead of indiscriminately stripping the house back to its original features in every instance, Anna took the time to think about what really worked. “My job has taught me how to look and feel my way into any space–and sometimes, you have to stop and say ‘it might not be accurate, but it is still worth keeping.’” Thanks to this unusual philosophy, you can be sitting in the cottage next to an original Georgian wall, look up, and see a “bizarro moulding” a previous owner added at a later date. Ultimately, Anna is always looking to make “appropriate, but interesting, design choices.”
When it came to choosing paint colours, Anna considered several alternate approaches. "The colour palette could have been informed by so many different things and looked totally different as a result, but I wanted the base colours to be period accurate." In her quest for authenticity, she took a trip to Papers and Paints in South Kensington. “They suggested this gorgeous creamy white that looks like you can just dive into it. Most of the walls in the cottage are very neutral in grey sludge-y colours that would have been typical in a workers' cottage like this.” Despite the neutral walls, the overarching feeling is that this is a warm family house. "I introduced colour through the woodwork, cabinetry and furniture. In those places, I tried to be more surprising with my colour choices."
One challenge was the cottage's lack of natural light, but Anna quickly decided not to fight it. “I really do think these kind of cottages look better when you lean into their darkness instead of trying to paint them bright whites,” she says. In fact, Anna borrowed a trick from her favourite pub in Dorset, the Square and Compass, painting the ceiling in a gloss version of the same hue she'd applied on the walls. “It envelopes you in colour and helps to bounce light around the room.”
“We finished the renovation in late 2019 just before lockdown and were hoping to gun work in 2020 as we’d overspent by an enormous amount,” Anna laughs. “Instead we ended up spending the whole spring and summer just looking at the house and enjoying the work we had put in.” Something, she admits, that would not have happened under different circumstances.
Since moving in seven years ago, Anna and Fred have expanded their family to include their three-year-old child and Wally the Border Terrier. They have, in their own way, made their mark on this workers' cottage. As Anna puts it, "I love that the house is a tapestry of people who lived here in the past."
Chris Horwood1/19In the living room, the space the front door opens into, the walls have been painted in Fired Earth's 'Sweet Cicely'.
Chris Horwood2/19The vase on the mantlepiece is by Claire Lardner Burke.
Chris Horwood3/19Tiny sculptures by Daniel Scott, Fred's brother, hang in the living room.
Chris Horwood4/19From another angle, the large window floods the room with light. The cottage was a laundry in a previous life, and the windows are a call back to the original shop frontage. The curtains are by Linwood and the cushions are a mix of Manuel Canavos and Colefax & Fowler.
Chris Horwood5/19The living room opens up into the kitchen and dining area. On the floor, a rug from The Braided Rug Company.
Chris Horwood6/19The kitchen is perhaps the most striking part of the house. A brilliant blend of contemporary colours and traditional shapes. The worktop is reclaimed iroko and the floor is a limestone from Floors of Stone.
Chris Horwood7/19Anna worked with OEB Architects to help transform the back of the house. They added double dutch stable doors and a huge working sash window painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Truron’.
Chris Horwood8/19‘A shaker style kitchen just seemed to be the most appropriate for the history of the building,' says Anna, who commissioned The Shaker Workshop.
Chris Horwood9/19In the corner of the kitchen, Anna has created extra seating and storage with a built-in bench. The bench cushions are upholstered in a simple ticking fabric from The Cloth Shop.
Chris Horwood10/19Downstairs, in the cellar that was “filled with stuff” when Anna and Fred arrived, they have created a bright, airy space. The ceramic wall lights are from Trainspotters and the curtain fabric is from The Cloth Shop.
Chris Horwood11/19The downstairs loo is painted in ‘Papyrus’ by Papers & Paints. The poster is a vintage Polish print and the souvenirs of Zeus are from Hydra.
Chris Horwood12/19In the primary bedroom, Soane ‘Seaweed Lace’ Roman blinds frame the windows. The walls are painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Dropcloth’ and ‘French Grey’. The cushion is from Volga Linen and the lamp is homemade from an old mochaware jug. On the walls, Nicole Heidaripour's ‘wind pruned’ tree drawings are displayed.
Chris Horwood13/19On the other side of the bed, which has a headboard in ‘Lost & Found’ by Kit Kemp, a ginger pot has been turned into a homemade lamp. The painting is by Eve Akroyd.
Chris Horwood14/19In the bathroom, a repurposed washstand unit with taps from Bespoke Taps creates a wonderful vignette. The lighting is from Old School Electric and the painting, seen reflected in the mirror, is by Michael Lawrence.
Chris Horwood15/19The washstand is painted in Little Greene's ‘Citrine’. The framed Japanese Sumo wrestling bill is antique and the toilet is from Burlington.
Chris Horwood16/19In Anna and Fred's child's room, the walls are painted in ‘Patronage Pink’ by Papers & Paints. The cupboard is rendered in Farrow & Ball's ‘Pigeon’. The Swedish wallhanging is by Ingegerd Silow.
Chris Horwood17/19The mantlepiece is also painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Pigeon’.
Chris Horwood18/19In Fred's study, a large film poster, of Roy Andresson’s ‘A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence’, adds a splash of colour. The chair is a Frederick Scott ‘Supporto’ chair (for Fred Scott!). The archive box is by Shepherds of London.
Chris Horwood19/19Anna's door furniture was bought from The Anvil.
