Stepping off Grove Lane in Camberwell to Canning Cross, a quiet, leafy lane lined with cottages, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d left London. It’s a feeling that’s even more pronounced at the end of the track, where a converted mews house wrapped in grapevines sits on the cobbled path. Fitting, then, that its owners, Oli Hudson and Sam Rogg, run a natural wine business.

Our ‘Open House‘ series takes you behind the front doors of some of the homes we sell for a look at how the space has enriched the lives of its owners. Here, we talk to Oliver and Sam about the charm of their former stables, turning their living room into a wine bar and what their next move is.

Oli: “I was a filmmaker when I bought the house, which I thought would be a cool place to shoot in. Back then it was much more of a warehouse-type space, with only ladders up to mezzanine levels and no interior walls.

“The story goes that there was a couple, who lived on Camberwell Grove, got divorced in the 1970s and the wife kept the house while the husband moved in here. He pitched a tent in the middle of the space and did the conversion, with railway sleepers borrowed from Denmark Hill Station. Outside, the numbers ‘1973’ have been etched into the cement.

“We even got a knock on the door from his daughters, who grew up here, and who we got to know a bit. So that’s really cool, that there’s still that connection with other people who have lived here too.

“I moved in with four friends and we made films, music videos and animations here. It was fun, and a good laugh. This whole street was not quite what it is now, shall we say. Opposite was an old garage used as a squat, lived in by a band called Ratty Rat Rat.

“I did the work to it before Sam moved in, about seven years ago. I did some of the painting myself but the major structural work I left to professionals. We found a really great carpenter who made the stairs using English wood and then we got a metalsmith in Peckham to do the bannisters.”

Sam: “I moved in five years ago. Ollie was writing for TV at that time with his writing partner, who also lived here. I was working as a freelance journalist, so we were all here a lot, which was nice but a little intense at times – you had to carve out a little space to work in.

“I’ve enjoyed living here so much. It’s impossibly quiet, yet we are so close to Denmark Hill station. It sort of feels like we live in the countryside whilst being in the city – it’s really special.”

Oli: “Yes, and we have a neighbour who guerrilla gardens the who street with a special brand of flower arrangements – it’s pretty cool. We will always see him tidying things up and planting, and then he puts in a little sign to explain which flowers he’s planted. He does it all over Camberwell.”

Sam: “And living with a grapevine at the front of the house is amazing, especially because we have a wine business. When it’s in the season there are big bunches of grapes everywhere.

“We got into natural wine when I was a food and wine journalist for some travel magazines in London. And as part of that job, I got to review lots of very fancy restaurants, to which I took Oli along. It was really through talking to sommeliers and drinking wines that we started noticing a pattern in what we were enjoying.

“And then we went to Italy. We tasted the most amazing Chiantis and then desperately wanted to go and visit the vineyards to meet the winemakers. In doing that we sort of just fell in love, with the whole process and the whole world of natural wine.

“We began our business, Natural Born Wine, by curating a wine list of natural biodynamic wines in London. As writers, we were writing the story of the wine and literally tying it to each bottle. Because we feel the wine industry or the subject of wine can be quite alienating and intimidating, we want to talk about wine and in words and terms that anyone can understand. We try to tell the story of the people behind our wines and the place that made it, avoiding jargon.”

Oli: “We started selling wines at farmers markets at the weekends but we also turned our living room here into a wine bar/shop once a month, which gives us the opportunity to talk to have longer conversations with people.

“Sometimes it’s quite busy at the market, and we can only talk for perhaps five minutes, to communicate the broad, basic points about why natural wine is important. But hosting evenings here has been great because people come and enjoy a proper glass and experience the wines in a relaxed, intimate environment. The space itself kind of feels like being in a cellar in Italy, albeit a well-lit one.”

Sam: “We thought it might be weird at first but it’s not at all. We rearrange the furniture a bit but, for the most part, we want it to feel like a living room, with everyone sharing sofas and tables – the 1970s vibe!”

Oli: “What’s great about opening up to anyone is that someone casually walking past can pop in and have a glass, and then we also get the people who are already fascinated with natural wine. It’s meant that over the last two years we sometimes end up with people in their late seventies and people in their early twenties sitting around together, all here for a glass or two.

“I think it works because of the community feeling in Camberwell – there’s a real sense that people look out for each other and are here to stay. Everyone makes the effort to be involved in the community, whether that’s with the gardening societies, farmers markets or supporting local businesses.

“We’re moving on to get more outdoor space for our dog. We’ll miss this place so much, especially the sense of quietness and calmness of it. It does feel like it’s a house with a soul; you walk in here from doing anything and instantly feel much more relaxed and at ease.

“I guess it’s a getaway from the busyness and harshness of London sometimes. Actually, it’s almost a shock if we spend a few days here and then you go to Oxford Circus or somewhere like that. It can be  slightly jarring because here’s so calm – all of these gardens we back onto just create this kind of permanent quiet.”