A place of my own: An artist's retreat

Set in the rural hills just outside Sant Pere de Ribes, Nancy Jack and Leo Purcell’s family home is a tranquil oasis, detached from busy city life. Housed in an 18th-century Catalan masía, the couple have combined artistic touches from home and abroad to create an eclectic space that showcases their design talents. 

The British couple lived a fast-paced life in central London for 14 years but, after having children, they started to question whether the big city was the best place to bring up a family. When Leo started commuting weekly to a new job in Barcelona, they realised this was their opportunity for a change.

Nancy and her family moved to Barcelona in 2012 and chose to base themselves south of the city in the rural outskirts of Sitges. “The only caveat of moving to the country was that Leo wanted to be able to cycle to work [in Barcelona]—something he’s always done. Fortunately I managed to win him over!” Nancy laughed. The family moved into their latest home last October, just a 20-minute walk from Sant Pere de Ribes.

The house is located in a ‘pueblo blanco’, a tiny hamlet of white-washed houses. Entering through a gate set into the white perimeter walls, a sheltered courtyard separates the house from the residential street. This little refuge leads to Nancy’s studio annex—her favourite part of the house. Having trained at the Glasgow College of Art and worked as a production designer and art director for the BBC, art has always been part of her life, and her work space is lined with paintings and moodboards. 

 The country home dates back at least two centuries, with pitched roofs and terracotta tiled floors. A spiral staircase at the end of the entrance hall leads to the upper storey where, as Nancy pointed out, there is “not a right angle to be found”. Off the hallway, a traditional farmhouse kitchen looks out onto the courtyard, while the living and dining area—the heart of the home—lie straight ahead.

Upon entering the lounge, the eye is drawn to a large canvas of a woman swimming that dominates one wall—part of a new series Nancy is creating. The ocean blue canvas hangs above a long vintage sideboard, designed by Alexander H. McIntosh and made in Scotland. Nancy thought it was fate when she found out that the original Sixties piece of furniture had been made where she used to spend holidays as a child, Kirkcaldy, and that the model, a Dunvegan, shared its name with the place where she was born.

There are other mementos from back home dotted around the house, including an intriguing collage made from Golden Syrup tins, Scottish knick-knacks and a sparkling disco ball that hangs in an archway between the dining area and living room—a throwback to her time working in children’s TV.

The rest of the lounge decor is chic yet colourful, with white walls offset by blue and yellow accent chairs and cushions. Nancy laughed at the mention of colour: “As an artist, I tend to get into colour ruts where the paintings I do, the furniture I choose, and even the clothes I wear follow the same colour scheme.”

The dominant feature of the lounge is its feeling of space. The double-height ceiling, supported by original wooden beams, slopes up towards the centre of the house and is painted white to match the clean walls. “It’s a great space for entertaining,” Nancy commented. “On Boxing Day, we moved the piano in here, pushed the furniture back and had people dancing and singing all day.” Overlooking the lounge is a quirky Juliet-style window from an upstairs bedroom, situated above a large fireplace. French doors with large windows open out onto a back patio and curved pool, which the family is looking forward to using on hot summer afternoons.

Alongside Nancy’s canvases, the house is filled with curiosities and artefacts that allude to the rest of the family’s interests: vintage cycling posters hang on the walls, a quirky papier-mâché head sits on the sideboard and a framed wall hanging from Vietnam takes pride of place in the dining area.

Although they are renting the house, the family have managed to fill it with their own pieces and personality. “Initially, we tried to convince ourselves that living with none of our own furniture was more liberating,” Nancy said, “but I felt homesick and realised that decorating would make the house feel more like my own.”

Relaxing on the sunny patio with Jackson, the family dog, it is clear that the change of pace suits Nancy and her family. “We originally said two years,” she recalled. “But now...who knows?”