I’d heard some amazing things about Dom and Ali’s family home so when I popped in for coffee and a (supreme) chocolate flapjack last week my expectations were already high. Despite an unfortunate break in the good weather of recent weeks as I drew up to the imposing stone dwelling built in the 1600s, added to in the 1700s and extended in the 1800s, my breath was somewhat taken away. I couldn’t wait to get inside.

Dom and Ali are the husband and wife team behind Prezola, the UK’s leading independent wedding gift list company. With camera in one hand and chocolate brownie in the other I was given a tour of the completed parts of their renovation project and also gained an insight into Dom and Ali’s family life, their business relationship and how they manage the two. Here is Ali with all the glorious details.

The Tour Begins

The main house is Victorian and is actually the ‘modern extension’. The original chapel dates back to the early 1600s, while the cottage was built in the early 1700s. All three are now linked and, looking at the exterior image from the rear, the house gets older as you move from left to right.

We sold our house in Bath to fund the launch of Prezola and were fully intent on buying something sensible, easy and manageable while we were both so busy with work. Alas, we took one look at The Rectory and it was love at first sight. We had to have it. When we bought the house it had been loved greatly as a family home, but hadn’t been touched in 25 years, so needed some updating as the brochures say. In other words it was a wreck!

We decided to renovate the main house with a light touch, restoring the period detail, focusing on the shutters, fireplaces, flagstones and stripped floors. The older sections of the house need much more work and have been left untouched for now. Apart from the pages ripped from magazines depicting our ‘dream’ kitchen and bedroom suite which one day will occupy the space.

Bedroom

With two teenagers in the house, we opted to give them the biggest bedrooms while we await our new one, and so ours is small, cosy and intimate. The house is freezing in the winter, so I actually think we got the better end of the deal! This colourful bedding is by Joules, and (as you’ll no doubt spot), we both love typography and I’m a big fan of owls. There’s lots of both throughout the house. The rusty letters ensure there are no arguments as to whose side of the bed is whose, while the Karlsson copper alarm clock is quite firmly on Dom’s side. The prints are Bold & Noble, another firm favourite here at Prezola.

Dining room

We both love to entertain, but rarely anything too formal. The dining room is one of our favourite rooms in the house and this dining table is where Dom and I worked for months before Prezola grew up and got its own offices. It still doubles up as our home office and we can often be found sat in here with our laptops beavering away.

The dinnerware (more owls!) is Taika White by Italla and the glasses are from their Essence range, both of which I really love. The cutlery is actually a wedding present from the 1990s, but is still made by Viners today. The flowers in the old bottles, along with all the gorgeous displays around the house, were arranged by my good friend Seo Jeung at meandmyflowers, one of Bath’s most sought after wedding florists.

Entrance

Anyone who’s started their own business will know just how utterly all-consuming it can be and what a joy it is to finally walk through the front door at the end of another long day. This entrance hall is a real luxury and is designed to scream welcome home and relax. I love the HOME letters which come from Graham & Green and sit above an original church pew that once lived in the chapel, here at the house. The cushions are from a variety of stores but the giant chevrons and matching throw are both from Holly’s House, my latest and most exciting boutique find.

The double doors out to the driveway feature the original Victorian stained glass which is a beautiful golden colour. No matter what the weather outside, this room always looks sunny as a result.

Hall

As a typical Victorian pile, there’s lots of symmetry and the hallway is a perfect example. Everything is in pairs, with a lovely central staircase which wraps around itself as it weaves up to the bedrooms. The stair carpets had to be stripy. We uncovered the bare flagstones from beneath layers of old green carpets, sensibly installed by a former occupant who had spent a winter here. Sadly, gripper rods had been glued to the stones and so they all need to be refurbished when we get around to it. For now a Cox & Cox runner hides the worst of the damage!

The GPO phone from Liberty has a proper ring to it, befitting of an old Rectory, while the giant Jo Malone candle is only lit on very special occasions.

Kitchen

We have an entire scrapbook of ideas for the ‘real’ kitchen, which will have to wait a while. We refurbished the original kitchen when we moved in, and actually really like the result. The original units were repainted in an olive colour, while new oak worktops and white metro tiles livened the space up a bit. The AGA is lovely and is seen here sporting a rather impressive kettle from Aga Cookshop alongside a Le Creuset casserole, which is one of our best-sellers. The stripy blue ‘Cornishware’ is another big hitter at Prezola right now, their mugs being exactly the right size for the perfect culpa!.

And those brownies are real. They just came out of the AGA and Adam did a great job of multitasking between brownie and camera!

[ezcol_2third id=”” class=”” style=””]

Living Space

The main event – I feel very grown up to have this in my house. With three enormous full height windows overlooking the gardens, this is a really lovely space. It is on the large side, and so we’ve had to really work hard to fill it and make it feel homely.

One end houses my grand piano along with Dom’s original Eames leather armchairs. Someone got carried away on eBay and ‘had’ to have them! The globe drinks cabinet is the ultimate love/hate conversation point of the room and was a birthday present for Dom (who loves it!). It looks pretty good, but actually cost less than £100 from Amazon.

The other end is the real living space of the house, with two huge custom built sofas which comfortably fit the four of us, the dog and any supplies we might need for an evening of being couch potatoes. The rug and coffee table are both from OKA, as are lots of the cushions. I love their colonial style and would have lots more of it if our budget was limitless!

The room has fireplaces at either end, both of which are on most of the time during the winter. This one sports a lovely bronze ‘friendship bench’ by Artisanti alongside mercuried candle holders from Cox & Cox.

Stairs

The original staircase needed some TLC to get it back in shape and is now covered with a lovely stripy runner that continues throughout the upstairs landing. It’s double height in the centre and we weren’t quite sure what to do with the very high walls. In the end this set of six hummingbird prints by Graham & Green got the job of brightening up the space, and they work really well.

Daisy Dog can usually be found equidistant between everyone in the house, keeping guard, which usually means she’s lying on the landing halfway up!

[/ezcol_2third]
[ezcol_1third_end id=”” class=”” style=””]

{The Particulars}

ali-and-dom-prezola

  • Who: Dom and Ali
  • What: Victorian with historic chapel & cottage
  • Where: Somerset
  • Style: Period restoration with contemporary style

[/ezcol_1third_end]

[ezcol_divider]

What’s it like to work together as a husband and wife team?

It wouldn’t be for everyone but it works really well for us as we have very different backgrounds and very different roles in the company. As an interior designer I’m all about finding the latest products, emerging trends and fabulous new retail partners.

Dom comes from a publishing background and has run internet strategy for some seriously cool brands. His commercial sense and my love of products seems to be a great combination.

Our paths rarely cross these days, so we’ve always got something to talk about when we finally get home, much to the kids’ annoyance! We have a team of 30 at our swanky new HQ and rarely see each other properly at work. Alternating school runs with meetings and events means that we don’t even drive to work together these days.

It’s all a far cry from when we launched the company and both worked from the kitchen table at home. Now that was definitely not for the faint-hearted!