Our Journey Home

I fell in love with No 19 Starý Týn the first time I stayed here alone:

it was like I had come home.

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In 2010 my cat Mario and I moved from our flat in Milan Italy to spend more time in the remote Czech village of Starý Týn in the beautiful North Bohemian countryside. Our aim was to bring new life to No 19, a rather run down former farm.

 

The house had lost almost all of its original features over the years and had become stark and empty, but there was so much potential. Having grown up in England with the ethos of ‘do it yourself’, I decided to approach this 200 year old Sudeten farmhouse in exactly the same way.

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Learning as I went along, I started restoring character to the house. I worked with old stone, wooden beams, and what I had to hand, and found creative ways of conserving and reusing materials, which is something that has now become central to everything I do.

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I built the garden using stones I found long buried in the ground and learnt about growing the plants I loved as the garden evolved. I furnish the house from flea markets and junk shops choosing items I feel fit in - giving them another chance: a new place to live.

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Although there's still a long way to go, the house continues to feel more and more like a home. And when I think about it, I can't imagine never having lived here.

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Mario's family continued growing and kept him company until he passed away in 2019. Although he is dearly missed, he remains part of the fabric of the home in which we enjoyed so many years together. 

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My collection of handcrafted home and garden products continues to evolve with the materials I find and the inspiration I get from the world around me. Living in No 19 has given me a unique opportunity -the opportunity to discover what I love doing.

 

I design, create, and hand make every product, but they are all essentially From No 19