Waldegrave Road
Building an urban country house
Client
Private clients, family of 5
Location
London SE19
Category
Residential
Photography
Originally a Victorian Girl’s School, this traditional, double-fronted house had been many years unloved when we first started working on it. However, the bones were in good condition, with plenty of original cornicing & marble fireplaces, and with many rooms being decorated in somewhat tired, yet gorgeous original William Morris wallpaper. Keenly respectful of the original layout of the property, we carefully knocked through some key walls to create a large space for a galley kitchen/diner. Adding a few contemporary twists and working on a tight budget, we designed & custom built a period kitchen, using shop bought carcases & cabinet fronts, hand-painting them and adding detailed brass hardware to give an elevated and sophisticated finish. In other words, serious pimping!
Retaining all the original features and working with some of the existing paint colours and wallpapers, we embellished and accentuated all of the rooms, in particularly the bathrooms, where we added character with tongue and groove panelling, Victorian tiles and antique furniture pieces as washstands to create that individual wow-factor. Front and back gardens were re-landscaped in traditional designs, using many salvaged original flagstones and bricks to minimise cost and waste. The end result is a juxtaposition of country-farmhouse and mid-century-urbanity.