The couple inherited the ’60s property from Kristin’s parents and wanted to keep it as a central gathering place for regular meetings. “It’s a big family home that belongs to my mother-in-law and has many happy years filled with holidays, birthdays, Christmases and New Years,” Bill explains. “Three generations have had great times here and now I hope there will be many more with the new generation. “It is our duty to continue this tradition,” he said.

As expected from a home built more than 60 years ago, the previous kitchen was not designed with modern entertaining in mind and had an awkward layout that was unsuited to comfortably entertaining guests in a fluid and uninterrupted manner. What’s more, old wooden cabinets ran along the back wall and didn’t have nearly enough storage for a modern home, and most of the room was taken up by an oversized central dining table that failed to maximize space. The brown and cream color palette was a thing of the past, and the heavily patterned curtains on either side of the windows obscured rather than captured the magnificent view; This was something Bailey, a keen bird watcher, naturally wanted to highlight.