Living the country dream - Danny Lodge in Hurstpierpoint

A chance opportunity led Matt and Sophie White to not only buy a property on the edge of the South Downs National Park but also build their dream house for their family too. Whilst the build was certainly a Grand Design it was actually the sense of community in Hurstpierpoint that sold it to them.

By David Tingley

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Matt and Sophie White set up Matt Architecture in 2011, following a two-year stint living and working in Abu Dhabi. The plan was to return to London, set up a family home and build the new business together. As part of this, the pair set about developing the site of their house in London; making it into the home they wanted. 

During the building work they moved the whole family to Cuckfield, where they rented a property for a year. But they never moved back to the city.

Whilst living in Cuckfield the pair got a taste for family life in ‘the country’ and they saw just how smaller communities could work for them. An old friend of Matt’s lived in Hurstpierpoint and they had been to see him and liked what they saw. A coincidental loading of a new property app while Matt was in the area, led him to learn that Danny Lodge was for sale – which got them both thinking.

[extract from full article in May 2017's issue of Hurst Life magazine]

Lustig & Webb - Village People

They’ve been cutting your hair for almost a year, while Stephen’s cheeky quips have been amusing the nation on Channel 4’s Gogglebox. But what drew Daniel Lustig and Stephen Webb to Hurstpierpoint? Get to know the village’s newest hairdressers …

     Daniel started hairdressing at Toni & Guy in Brighton aged 19, and since has worked at other salons around Brighton. “I used to work for an independent salon called Ash and I was the manager there for six years,” he says, “then I went to work for Rush for about three years, then I went to work independently for seven years, but the Lustig & Webb whole time I was desperate to open my own salon.”
     Both harbouring the same dream, the two moved to Hurstpierpoint after meeting in a quintessentially British fashion: “We met at Hove Town Hall in the queue,” Stephen laughs. “How romantic!”
     Since moving Daniel and Stephen have embraced village life. “I think Hurstpierpoint’s brilliant,” says Stephen, “because there’s a real slice of life here. I was in Hampers Deli the other day and Bob, the owner, pointed out this lady and said she’s lived here all her life, she’s 103! So there’s people who have lived here all their lives, there’s ex-Brightonians, ex-Londoners and I just think there’s a lot of people from different backgrounds. It’s a real mixed bag here and that’s what I like about it, and everyone just gets on. I just think it really works because it’s on a small scale but there’s a bit of everyone here.

See full article on pages 16/17.

By Hattie Parish
Previously an interior design shop, Lustig & Webb opened at 99b in the High Street in September 2014. Along with colleague Jacqui and their two dogs Barbara and Betsey, Daniel and Stephen feel they’ve filled a gap in the Hurst hairdressing market. Decorated with striking paintings of iconic hairstyles painted by Daniel’s father, the salon has a modern yet cosy feel.
     “We were thinking about opening up in Brighton first, but then there’s five salons on every street,” Stephen explains. “Even though when we opened we were the seventh kind of hair establishment in the village, we just thought we could fit in. Every salon in this village caters for a different crowd. We just thought we could attract a different clientele that’s maybe going to Brighton or London to get their hair done.”
     Stephen started hairdressing when he left school and in 1992 moved to London to train with Toni & Guy. “I moved down from London about three years ago to Brighton and I’d never heard of Hurstpierpoint,” says Stephen. “Then one day we took a drive over here and as soon as I pulled into the village I just fell in love with it right away.