Our Place of Sanctuary

Sanctuary House is going to look after its owners – they’ve made sure of that. CHRISSY HARRIS visits a highly personalised and quite spectacular riverside home

- CHRISSY HARRIS

After being diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease, Rosemary Jackson decided it was time to adapt her living arrangements. She and husband Ian Graham wanted to make sure life would be as easy as possible for them during the challenges ahead. And they might as well do it properly.

The couple spent six years up to 2020 designing and perfecting a unique, beautifully finished contemporary home using the very latest technology and firstclass materials.

Sanctuary House, which overlooks the overlooks the Rivers Clyst and Exe in Topsham, has been built to provide comfort, style and pure pleasure in every single square foot.

For starters, there’s that panoramic view, pouring in at you from all angles, thanks to the structural glazing.

You can take a brief riverside stroll by starting at one end of the house and ending up at the other.

Then there’s everything in between: a sculptural fireplace, an art gallery corridor, a bespoke curved sofa for window gazing, a bar area, award-winning light fittings, skylights to peer at the stars above the main bed and six kitchen areas.

“It’s very much a why ‘would you not?’ sort of house,” says Rosemary, 68, who has also been through treatment for cancer. She’s brilliantly unapologetic about wanting everything on hand, close by and made to suit her and Ian’s future needs.

“We’ve got to make life as simple as possible for ourselves,” she adds. “That’s why we designed this house.”

Rosemary’s sight started to deteriorate while the couple were living in their dream home in Noss Mayo.