HOMES LONDON

Bespoke fitted furniture in

the living room was made
by a local joiner. Timber
boards on the floor were
sanded back and refinished

66 FEBRUARY 2019 / MAGAZINE.COM

The height
of chic
A long to-do list of improvements
prompted the renovation of this
much-loved London townhouse
WORDS JULIET BENNING
PHOTOGR APHY CHRIS SNOOK

IN BRIEF
–
NAMES Julie Gardener and Kittie Cook
AGES Early fifties
LOCATION Wandsworth, London
TYPE OF PROPERTY Victorian townhouse
BEDROOMS 4 BATHROOMS 2
PROJECT STARTED July 2016
PROJECT FINISHED August 2017
SIZE 305sqm COST £640,000
CURRENT VALUE £3 million

MAGAZINE.COM / FEBRUARY 2019 67

 HOMES LONDON
ABOVE Although built in 1850, around the time of The Great Exhibition, this imposing Victorian
property includes elements of Georgian style, such as its tall windows and grand proportions
Although built in 1850, around the time of the
Great Exhibition, the imposing Victorian house
includes elements of Georgian style in its façade,
such as the tall windows and grand proportions.
68 FEBRUARY 2019 / MAGAZINE.COM
Julie and Kittie’s eclectic style works
with the original period features
I t was not an exciting new property or
plot that steered Julie Gardener and her
partner Kittie Cook on their design journey.
It was the revival of the home that they
had lived in and loved for ten years. ‘It’s a
gorgeous house,’ says Julie, who was originally drawn to the
building’s grand proportions and elevated position, with a
flight of steps up from the street. ‘Although it’s technically
Victorian, it was built around the time of The Great
Exhibition in 1851 and has some Georgian influences.’
Living in a period property is never without its
complications and after a decade the list of improvements
and repair jobs was long. ‘It got to a point where we’d
accumulated a few years’ worth of problems and we
thought we should tackle them all at once,’ says Julie.
‘After two rounds of
replacing rotten wood, the
idea of low-maintenance
steel was very appealing’
The couple planned a complete makeover. The house
was to be gutted, electrically rewired and re-plumbed,
the walls would be strengthened and steels put in, the
interiors redecorated and new rendering applied to the
rear facade to complete the project.
Julie and Kittie drafted in the expertise of Neil Gaskin
from Sketch Architects, who had been recommended by a
structural-engineer friend. Despite being in a conservation
area, none of the alterations required planning permission,
but the disruption was extensive enough to warrant the
couple moving out for the entire duration of the work.
Both Julie and Kittie are writers in the entertainment
industry and spend much of their time working from
home, so they moved into a smaller property temporarily
and continued with business as usual, while keeping
a close eye on the project’s progress.
Gaskin found a solution to the basement kitchen,
which had been extended in the past and was awkwardly
broken up by steel downstand beams and had a doorway
at the foot of a dark staircase. It was opened up and fitted
with steel-framed Crittall windows.
‘The staircase had been impossible to see and I used the
glazing to draw light into the corridor and act as a barrier
to the other basement rooms,’ he explains. The opening
 HOMES LONDON

Metal-framed glazing
has transformed the
previously dark stairwell
and opened up views
to the garden at the
back of the house.

MAGAZINE.COM / FEBRUARY 2019 69

 The kitchen was updated,
re-using many of the old
units along with a new
island and taller cupboards

70 FEBRUARY 2019 / MAGAZINE.COM

 HOMES LONDON

F L O O R PL A N S

MUSIC ROOM
OFFICE

EN SUITE
BEDROOM
BEDROOM

SECOND FLOOR

LIBRARY
EN SUITE

BALCONY DRESSING ROOM

MAIN BEDROOM

FIRST FLOOR

WC

LIVING AREA
PATIO

GROUND FLOOR

UTILITY
ROOM WC
LIVING SPACE

KITCHEN

PATIO

To tackle a problem with damp, the room was LOWER GROUND FLOOR
completely gutted and dug out to half a metre. A new,
polished-concrete floor has underfloor heating

MAGAZINE.COM / FEBRUARY 2019 71

 HOMES LONDON

‘It got to a point where we’d accumulated

a few years’ worth of problems and we
thought we should tackle them all at once’
for the window was designed so that it cuts into the timber
joists that run side to side across the ceiling, and fit under
the new steel beam that is left exposed. At one end of the
room, timber doors were replaced with another set of Crittall
ones to provide a view of the garden. ‘After two rounds of
replacing rotten wood, the idea of low-maintenance steel
was very appealing,’ Julie says.
The kitchen was stripped right back to deal with the
property’s damp problem. ‘We took everything down to
the soil, digging down by half a metre,’ Gaskin explains.
A new, fully insulated concrete slab was fitted alongside
Sika waterproofing and tanking. The floor was then
finished with underfloor heating and polished concrete.
With help from designer Sarah Newman at Harvey
Jones in Battersea, the kitchen was updated, re-using many
of the old units along with a new island and taller cupboards
including a larder and American-style fridge.
Upstairs, the couple’s bedroom suite now has the look of
a lofty Parisian apartment. Once two smaller rooms, Gaskin
reclaimed space to create a dressing room leading off from
the bedroom, which then leads to an adjoining bathroom.
‘I wanted to make the three spaces feel connected,’
Gaskin says. With the addition of tall double doors and
a freestanding bathtub in the dressing area, the already
impressive proportions have been given a greater sense
of drama. Julie’s eye for decorative detail prompted both
the deep-blue hue of the bathtub and the carpet of tiles
beneath it. Fitted wardrobes, made by a local joiner, line
the walls for a clutter-free look
With the renovation complete, the improvements
have given Julie and Kittie a renewed appreciation of
their London home. ‘After moving in, we went for a
shabby-chic look,’ says Julie. ‘Now we’ve chic-ed up
the shabby. Our home is going to age happily with us.’

Architect Neil Gaskin

reworked the room
Architect Neil Gaskin
layout
reworkedfor the
Juliespace
and for
Kittie’s
Julie andbedroom,
Kittie’s
dressing room
bedroom, and room
dressing
bathroom.
and bathroom

72 FEBRUARY 2019 / MAGAZINE.COM


Wall-to-wall bespoke joinery
fills the library, which is on
a landing between the ground
floor and first floor.
PROJECT TEAM
Architect Sketch Architects
(0203 773 4880; sketch-architects.co.uk)
Structural engineer Deborah Setterfield,
Benton Setterfield Partnership
(020 8870 3666)
Contractor M&M Crew
(07783 902 421; mmcrew.co.uk)
Decorating consultant Louise Hannah
Design (07786 902 220;
louisehannahdesign.com)
STRUCTURE
Windows Crittall from Lightfoot Windows
(020 8662 9090; lightfootwindows.co.uk)
Polished concrete floor Lazenby
(01935 700 306; lazenby.co.uk)
Timber floor Woodrow Parquet (020 7228
8700; woodrow-hardwood-flooring.com)
S U PPL I E R S
–
Waterproofing and
damp-resistance products
Sika (0800 292 2572;
sikawaterproofing.co.uk)
FIXTURES & FITTINGS
Kitchen design Harvey Jones,
Battersea, London
Bathroom tiles Carpet Vestige by Aparici,
(0800 389 6938; harveyjones.com)
Fitted furniture: dressing room
MannMade London (020 3735 6470;
mannmadelondon.com)
Fitted furniture: living
room and music room
Patrick Melanaphy, Richmond Park
Cabinets (020 8892 2871;
richmondparkcabinets.com)
Walls Farrow & Ball (charleston grey
in the bathroom; wardrobes in
MAGAZINE.COM / FEBRUARY 2019 73
Double doors from Mann Made
London (mannmadelondon.
com) heighten the drama of
the bedroom’s proportions
skimming stone; bedroom
in elephant’s breath (01202 876 141;
farrow-ball.com)
Lighting Clippings (020 3808 9449;
clippings.com) and Skipper pendant
by Tom Raffield at Heal’s
(0333 212 1915; heals.com)
from Potter Perrin (020 7223 1007;
potterperrintiles.com)
AV system Casey Barrett,
Inspired Dwellings (020 7736 6007;
inspireddwellings.com)
FURNITURE & ACCESSORIES
Bathroom fittings Potter Perrin
(020 7223 1007; potterperrintiles.com)
Carpets Roger Oates flatweave
(020 7351 2288; rogeroates.com)
 HOMES LONDON
With the renovation complete, the
improvements have given Julie and Kittie
a renewed appreciation of their home
74 FEBRUARY 2019 / MAGAZINE.COM
New rendering and Crittall
windows at the back
of the house have
completely renewed its
appearance and required
no planning permission.