For Alice Begg, every project begins with colour. That instinct shapes not only her bold fashion designs, but also the vibrant, characterful way she and her husband Robbie have transformed their Victorian end-of-terrace cottage in Stroud.
The house is arranged over four compact levels: a steep staircase leads up through two colourful floors to an attic bedroom and down to a lower ground floor, where a spacious new extension is decorated in a rainbow of shades. In fact, colour is threaded throughout this home, with many items, including inherited treasures and pieces salvaged locally, customised with freehand-painted designs.
Alice trained in fashion, though an early work placement at Burberry made her realise that the trend-led, big-business side of the industry wasn’t for her. So she went on to work at The Cloth Shop on London’s Portobello Road, and it was while working there that she met Robbie, who is a musician. At that time she was also building her own creative practice and had decorated the stage at a festival at which Robbie was playing.
Just three months later, the pair travelled to India, where they were both inspired by the vibrant colours and prints they saw. Soon after, they created Humphries & Begg, selling comfortable clothing printed and produced by small, family-run businesses in Jaipur, India, all to Alice’s designs. They sold online at first but now have a shop in Stroud.
After living in London, the couple moved to Manchester for a short stint, before deciding to be nearer Alice’s parents in Somerset. ‘We thought about Wales and Dorset,’ recalls Alice. ‘We’d just started Humphries & Begg and a friend who was doing the market here in Stroud took our shirts to sell. When we finally visited, we loved it – it was ideally positioned, near Mum and Dad, and easy for Robbie to get to London to play gigs.’
The move happened quickly. ‘This was the only house we looked at together,’ recalls Alice. ‘It just felt nice. It even had a wonderful smell that took me back to childhood. We could also see the potential to extend and create a space where we could look out onto those lovely woods.’ With just a month before their first baby was due, the couple got to work: ‘We quickly painted everything to make it feel more us.’
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Six months later, during lockdown, work began on the extension. The couple were fortunate to find retired builders who lived nearby to carry out the work. ‘It was tricky because everything had to be wheelbarrowed in and out through the back garden,’ remembers Robbie. Local firm Griffinwood installed the timber-framed extension, made from wood sourced locally in the Forest of Dean and generous areas of glazing that make the most of the views over the woodland. Before this work was undertaken, the lower floor of the house was, as Alice recalls, ‘very dark, with a little galley kitchen, bathroom and coal shed’.
Three years on, the business has recently moved to new premises in town and expanded into homeware, including textiles, cushions, rugs and quilts. And while the couple love the house and the distinctive spin they have given it, they now feel ready for more space and another project. No doubt it will be just as quirky, characterful and confident as the home they have created here.
