When Jess Wright was thinking about moving house, she would regularly drive by a property near where she lived with her husband William Lee-Kemp and their toddler son Presley and dream of moving in there.
The detached, three-storey home in a country village in Essex was very close to family and friends while also offering the perfect mix of the city/country living she craved. And so, when the property finally came up on the market, beauty and fashion influencer Jess and businessman Will put in an immediate offer which was accepted straight away.
Inside Jess and Will's new home
One year on, they have opened their doors exclusively to HELLO! magazine to show off the dream residence which has only recently been finished after more than six months of renovations.
"It's a really amazing feeling to be here," Jess, 38, tells HELLO! as she shows us around the six-bedroom, four-bathroom property. "I walk around and say to Will: 'I can't believe we live here'. It's a dream come true - I just pinch myself every time I walk through the front door. And to know that me and Will have achieved our new home by working hard and doing it all ourselves is wonderful."
Location, location, location
While the home also features his-and-hers walk-in wardrobes, a hand-painted 'Painty Jen' playroom for Presley, 19 months, and a 'glam room' where the former TOWIE star can get her hair and make-up done in peace, the icing on the cake is that Jess's famous television family, including her brother Mark Wright and his actress wife Michelle Keegan, are just seconds away.
"It's a really good location for us," Will, 40, says. "It's close to her mum and dad as well – they are in the next road."
Jess continues: "My cousin lives at the bottom of the road as well and Mark and Michelle live five minutes away. The gate is always being buzzed, whether it is my mum and dad or my brother."
Interior design
After getting the keys to their new residence, the couple - who got married in a beautiful ceremony exclusively covered by HELLO! magazine in September 2021 - set to work, removing flooring, carpets and all the doors while redoing the kitchen and all the bathrooms and repainting the walls in pale colours.
They approached top Mayfair-based interior designers Sixty3 London to work with them and also turned to Jess's brother Mark, who has just recently completed his and wife Michelle's purpose-built £3.5million home nearby, for guidance.
"Mark would come around and advise us," she recalls. "He gave us really good advice on structural things and certain lighting and things like that. For Christmas, we all did Secret Santa and Mark and Michelle got us this huge PA system with karaoke included. I was absolutely buzzing about that - Will was totally unamused – because whenever we go to Mark's house we're always on the karaoke in their bar."
Baby number two
Jess and Will love Presley's hand-painted playroom. Will there be any other small children who will eventually share Presley's space with him?
"I don't want him to not have a sibling because I have three and Will has got two but when is the right time?" she muses. "We have only just found our feet in terms of getting a bit of our life back, but we are also getting older so there is the pressure of the body clock."
Will adds: "I think whatever we do, it will be the right time and we will make it work."
Credits:
Wardrobes by Hammonds
Interior designers - Sixty 3 London
Curtains and blinds - CD Blinds
London Parquet Flooring - Living Kitchen Flooring
All decoration work ICONNIC Decor Ltd @weareiconnic
Carpets by Cormar
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