Most people have a whip round to tidy away any potentially embarrassing items before the estate agents come over, but for Tracey Cox her life’s work is a point of pride.
The sex and relationship expert has written 17 books on her field, and launched two ranges of Lovehoney toys — all of which she proudly displays in her Notting Hill home. The toys she put away, but the books were in full view when the agency team came over. “The funny thing is they didn't photograph them, for obvious reasons,” she tells Homes & Property.
He flat was her bachelor pad after her divorce, and people warned her that her bedroom — complete with that large bookcase — could potentially intimidate any dates she bought home.
“My friends called it the wall of deflation,” she says. “But I like to lie in bed and look at a reminded of how well I’ve done and the countries I’ve been published in.”
Having lived in the same Notting Hill apartment for 20 years, she’s putting her home on the market for £2.15 million with Winkworth.
It took her a long time to find an apartment in west London that suited her specifications. “I grew up in Australia with lots of lateral space because there's lots of land. So when I was looking for a flat in Notting Hill, I just kept saying, ‘Is there anything with lateral space?’”
When she saw the three-bedroom apartment on Westbourne Grove, she knew it was the one — although the interior decor left a lot to be desired.
“It was terrible,” says Cox. “The people who lived here before had shutters over the windows on the inside. They never opened the windows, they just lived with the windows shut and air con on, which I just cannot comprehend. It was so weird. Every everything was beige. I couldn't wait to rip all the wallpaper off and open the windows.”
Cox revamped the interiors herself, opening up the space and filling it with art that she has collected over the years. One of her favourites is a piece by French artist Catherine Théry, recreating Rembrandt’s ‘The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp’ with Barbie and Ken dolls.
“A lot of my artwork is a bit Marmite,” says Cox. “I love it. Anything creepy and weird, it’s hanging on my wall.”
Her favourite is a Helmut Newton portrait of women walking towards the camera nude. “I just love the fierceness of it. It's so interesting watching people's reaction when they walk in the door. I could tell in a heartbeat whether they're interested in sex or comfortable with sex,” she says. “If you're confronted with four naked women walking towards you, it sorts the men from the boys.”
Cox did eventually meet a man who wasn’t intimidated, Miles Bellerby, who she married wearing a red mini dress at Chelsea Town Hall in 2017. “I was exactly 50 when I met my husband, and it's been great,” she says. “I always did expect to meet somebody, but I didn't expect to be as happy as I am. We really do get on so bloody well.”
But learning to co-habit again with Miles and his daughter Sophie after so long living alone was a challenge, especially when the house had been set out to her specific tastes. “It's very hard when it's been your place to suddenly share it with somebody else and for them to feel comfortable,” she says. “I asked somebody who'd been married for 50 years and seemed really happy what their secret was. He just looked at me and said ‘acceptance’. And I just thought, that really is it, isn't it? You're going to put up with it, or it’s going to drive you insane.”
Still, she wasn’t entirely prepared to compromise when it came to sharing storage space — or her walk-in wardrobe.
“Seriously, the poor guy moved in and I think I cleared out the corner of one cupboard and one drawer,” she laughs. “He had this weird collection of l antique inkwells. They were just so ugly. I was like, right, you’ve got to sell those. He’s very amicable, my husband. He lets me be the control freak and run everything, but he’s not a pushover.”
Their dynamic is playing out well in the house-moving process, despite the stress. “We’re a very good team, we’ve divided it up. He’s doing the scouting and goes to see them first. Then I come in afterwards for the second viewing if they’re any good. He’s better at negotiating whereas I’m an emotional buyer. I’m terrible, if I want something I’m like ‘Yep, I’ll have it, I’ll pay whatever’.”
While she loves Notting Hill, she’s now looking to re-locate her family to somewhere a little quieter and greener — and less filled with temptation. “It’s very busy, and it’s a spendy-money place — I just want to spend money all the time. I used to live in Richmond, and I’m starting to crave open spaces and a less frenetic lifestyle.”
But that doesn’t mean Cox has any plans to slow down. “I'm 62 now, you just think ‘Well, shit, okay, what am I gonna do next?’ Because I've done books, I've done magazines, I've done television, I've done radio, I love my podcast.”
She’s considering putting her psychology training to use and becoming a counsellor. “I think that's something that I really would enjoy.”
