'We made the mistake of accepting the word of a surveyor. Off we went on a voyage of restoration lasting 30 years': Griff Rhys-Jones on his first house in the country
The comedian, actor and conservation campaigner Griff Rhys-Jones has called rural Suffolk home for over 40 years. He spoke to Julie Harding.
Where was your first house in the country?
South of Ipswich, Suffolk, on an estuary. From boyhood, I always dreamed of owning a bargeman’s cottage when sailing the east coast on holiday.
A quick description
A five-bedroom farmhouse built in about 1600, which we bought in 1984.
How did you find it?
The owner didn’t want to pay estate agents, so he advertised using a small ad. There was a housing recession; prices were still cheap.
What made you buy it?
Hollyhocks. Reasonable remoteness. A sleepy sunny day. A dream of total escape.
Favourite aspect of the house?
The house isn’t big, but it has an ordered simplicity: parlour; simple dining room; Victorian extension for a small kitchen; and a flat front with wonky windows.
Best memory of living there?
We still own the house. I was the first of my friends to have a house in the country and everyone came for festivals and parties.
Biggest mistake?
Accepting the word of a surveyor that the former owner had made the property ‘good’. Off we went on a voyage of restoration and conservation lasting 30 years.
Griff Rhys-Jones (left) with his long-time comedy partner Mel Smith, pictured in 1987.
Anything particularly unusual about the house?
The parish boundary runs right through the middle. You can wake in one parish and clean your teeth in another.
Biggest indulgence?
We bought the fields back and front to create big gardens.
What happened to it?
We bought the rest of the property and moved next door and now the house is rented as a holiday let in eight acres of gardens by an estuary, except at Christmas and Easter when we fill it with friends again.
Griff Rhys Jones is president of The Victorian Society Its lecture series ‘Heroes and Heroines of the Arts-and-Crafts Movement’ begins on January 28 (www.victoriansociety.org.uk). He is starring in ‘I’m Sorry, Prime Minister’ at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, W1, from January 30–May 9 (www.theapollotheatre.co.uk)
