Tour this rural retreat in Suffolk

With a resourceful view on using salvage and an eye for pared-back simplicity, Susan and Robert Mears have restored their Suffolk cottage, filling it with a harmonious mix of history-rich materials, furniture and objects

Susan and Robert Mears’s rural Suffolk retreat is testament to a passion for originality and a love of all things salvaged. They’ve peeled back the 200-year-old cottage’s fabricated layers to reveal, and celebrate, its authentic and natural beauty. Stepping inside Tally Ho Cottage you are instantly wowed by its gentle architectural character honoured by the carefully sourced salvaged materials.

When Susan and Robert found the cottage – their second home – the upstairs showed signs of original features, but downstairs all traces of character had been covered up with unappealing ‘updates’. ‘The upstairs had exposed studwork and old floorboards but downstairs there was carpet over concrete – which we’ve replaced with salvaged floorboards – and awful spongy ceilings covering the original beams,’ says Susan. ‘One of the fireplaces was bricked up, which we later discovered was hiding an intact domed bread oven, and the kitchen was a gloomy 80s nightmare. But we could see beyond the cover-up work and had fallen in love with the setting, so we made an offer before getting on the train back to London.’

Despite both Susan and Robert’s confessions of being obsessive buyers of vintage and architectural salvage they have managed to curate a space which feels full yet delightfully simple. ‘We love the simplicity of the house and have kept that in mind with the objects which have gone into it,’ says Susan. ‘Because we don’t live here full-time there isn’t the everyday clutter of life. Every piece of furniture and decorative item is here because we truly love it and it holds a memory of when, where and how we acquired it. We love the sense of history too. The slower pace of making a second home has meant our style is very much considered; we’ve had immense pleasure from bringing the cottage’s old character and beauty back to life.’

Susan’s sourcebook

• Cornucopia at the Corn Exchange Good for hunting down interesting vintage kitchenalia, in Harleston, Norfolk.
• Diss Auction Rooms Excellent for furniture and architectural salvage.
• eBay Susan and Robert’s go-to for everything old.
• Fawley Decorative Fair Formerly known as Salvo, this fair has everything, from large architectural salvage to vintage linens
• Pure White Lines Antiques and interiors shop in East London selling unique and interesting reclaimed lighting, furniture, mirrors and decorative items.
• Womack Building Supplies Family-run business near Norwich selling all kinds of building-related salvage; especially good for reclaimed bricks and timber.