Houzz Tour: An Elegantly Renovated Victorian Villa in Southwest London
A clever reconfiguration and the use of quality materials transformed a muddled house into a beautiful entertaining and living space
The search for a dream home often continues beyond the point of purchase. You probably love the area you are buying into, you may even like the face of the property. But inside it can take years to place everything just where you want it, and to create a layout of rooms that suits your lifestyle. That was certainly the case when this young couple moved into their Victorian house in southwest London with a baby in tow. Juggling work and the arrival of two more kids, they made do for a few years until they had saved up enough money to realise their grand vision.
‘There were several big things on our clients’ wish list,’ explains Silvia Maiorino, lead architect on the project. ‘Firstly, they wanted to improve the relationship between the inside and outside areas, particularly at the back – to be able to move freely between the two. Then we had to improve the look of the rear elevation. It was a bit shambolic due to several additions made in the second half of the 1900s,’ she explains.
‘The basement was to become the hub of the house, with a desire for easy access to the garden, more light and better proportioned rooms. The family asked us to maintain an authentic and coherent feel throughout – Regency architecture in a neoclassical style, which becomes more pared down as you work your way to the top floor, a characteristic hierarchy in a house of this period,’ says Silvia. ‘Finally, the works were to be definitive and serve the needs of the family for a long time. That meant, among other things, incorporating solar panels, thermally efficient materials and underfloor heating throughout.’
To make the task even more challenging, this property is in a conservation area, so Silvia and her team at Russell Taylor Architects had to tread very carefully when liaising with the local planning department. ‘We were in planning longer than they were on site,’ she recalls. ‘Extending through the back was a major undertaking and the application process certainly influenced the design.’
Their patience has certainly paid off: the result is a meticulously conceived, family-friendly home that effortlessly flows from one detail-rich room to the next.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here A young family with three children
Location Southwest London
Architect Silvia Maiorino of Russell Taylor Architects
Size 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
‘There were several big things on our clients’ wish list,’ explains Silvia Maiorino, lead architect on the project. ‘Firstly, they wanted to improve the relationship between the inside and outside areas, particularly at the back – to be able to move freely between the two. Then we had to improve the look of the rear elevation. It was a bit shambolic due to several additions made in the second half of the 1900s,’ she explains.
‘The basement was to become the hub of the house, with a desire for easy access to the garden, more light and better proportioned rooms. The family asked us to maintain an authentic and coherent feel throughout – Regency architecture in a neoclassical style, which becomes more pared down as you work your way to the top floor, a characteristic hierarchy in a house of this period,’ says Silvia. ‘Finally, the works were to be definitive and serve the needs of the family for a long time. That meant, among other things, incorporating solar panels, thermally efficient materials and underfloor heating throughout.’
To make the task even more challenging, this property is in a conservation area, so Silvia and her team at Russell Taylor Architects had to tread very carefully when liaising with the local planning department. ‘We were in planning longer than they were on site,’ she recalls. ‘Extending through the back was a major undertaking and the application process certainly influenced the design.’
Their patience has certainly paid off: the result is a meticulously conceived, family-friendly home that effortlessly flows from one detail-rich room to the next.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here A young family with three children
Location Southwest London
Architect Silvia Maiorino of Russell Taylor Architects
Size 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
Extending in a conservation area can be tricky, according to Silvia. ‘Neighbours will surely have an opinion on what you plan to do. For example, at the rear there was a danger of overshadowing neighbouring buildings, so we curved the extension to reduce the obstruction of sunlight. We also tried to convince the planning department that what we were doing would look good. That meant focusing on a coherent, classical design and using traditional elements, such as London stock brick, cornicing, architraves, rusticated plaster, painted stucco features and ironmongery. At the rear, we added traditional sash windows with extremely thin yet thermally efficient Slimlite double glazing.’
The basement was excavated and tanked, and the floor lowered to increase headroom in the main living areas. This has made the entire floor feel more airy and spacious – even the smaller rooms. The ability to throw open doors, or even do away with them, has also had a dramatic effect. ‘Before work began, several of the openings were small,’ says Silvia, ‘and many were not aligned, such as those by the secondary entrance [pictured here at the back]. One of our clients’ requirements was that the basement needed to flow better and the extended and original sections should feel more connected. Through better alignment of passages, you can create vistas and make an area feel more spacious. In the basement, we have created more rooms without increasing the footprint of the house very much.’
Walls have keen knocked through either side of the stairs, giving sociable chefs the run of the floor. ‘When cooking, you don’t want to feel detached from your family or guests, so flow between spaces is very important,’ says Silvia. ‘The room on the right becomes a dedicated pantry just off the newly created kitchen [left]. Since there were no doors, the stairwell was exposed, so we had to install a fire curtain and make it invisible. The curtain comes down automatically when the alarm sounds, cutting off the smoke from the stairwell.’
Check out these ways to maximise a small hallway
Check out these ways to maximise a small hallway
Gone is the uninspiring wash of magnolia. In its place is a muted palette of teal, beige, pastel greens and blues. This, together with the bespoke Yorkstone flags laid throughout the basement, makes for a rustic atmosphere. These flat arches are a particularly distinctive feature of the house – softer and more gentle than the usual square opening.
Continuing that natural theme, the kitchen is timber and designed in keeping with a basement of the original period. That means square panels, beaded corners, tongue and groove panels behind the sink, and pots and pans hung up above an imposing stove. The fridge-freezer and dishwasher have been stored out of view in the utility room, making this a space devoted to cooking and family meal times.
A few steps away, accessed either under a couple of flat arches or via the tall French doors to the garden, is the one-storey dining room extension with a glorious domed skylight. ‘It takes up almost half of the ceiling,’ notes Silvia. ‘Without it, this would have been a very narrow and deep room in the basement with insufficient natural light.‘
Upstairs in the piano room/library, the main changes are to the décor. The owners wanted to put their stamp on the place. So out went the beige carpet, magnolia walls and cloudy ceiling; in came a hefty splash of minty green paint, offset by gleaming white and the reclaimed dark wood parquet flooring. However, extra attention was paid to shape and form as well. ‘We refined the connection between the these two areas to make it more elegant, and redesigned the bookcases, which were a bit clumsy before,’ says Silvia. ‘All the features that you see are original. The fireplaces, the cornicing… However in the rear [where the piano is] there was an approximate caste of cornicing, which had become cluttered with paint, so we moulded another to match the original cornicing at the front and reproduced that in the new piano room. Each room has its own style of cornicing, in fact. Colours help you to read each space in a different way, so the strong shades chosen from room to room will help the details to pop out.’
The old separate bathroom has now been converted into an en suite with freestanding tub that leads, via a mirrored dressing room, to the new master bedroom.
These aren’t your average mirrors on both sides of the dressing room. They create the illusion of a never-ending vaulted corridor as they reflect one another. Things could get interesting after a few drinks…
The built-in wardrobe has been ripped out and replaced by an ornate freestanding model, revealing an original chimney breast. It’s another example of a traditional property being tastefully modernised to reflect changing trends and needs. ‘In the Victorian era, each room had a function and served a particular class of person,’ says Silvia. ‘There was very little mixing. This manifested in very logical spaces, proportioned for that purpose and size of property. Nowadays, particularly with converted period homes, this can make for a very confusing layout. Flow and interaction have become increasingly important in the modern home.’
The guest bathroom is a tiny space and went through several iterations due to the awkward placement of the window, which prohibited the inclusion of a traditional shower. ‘This is a fairly tall family, so a baby bath tub simply wouldn’t do,’ says Silvia. ‘After trying many different things, we decided that installing a freestanding shower in a wet room in front of the window would be the best way to go. The floor is one sloped slab of Carrara marble.’
Explore a range of wet rooms
Explore a range of wet rooms
Right at the top of the house, under the roof, are the kids’ room and nursery. These were two tight corners where clever thinking was required to squeeze out extra wriggle room. ‘There was no scope to add square metres,’ explains Silvia, ‘but we were able to maximise what was already there by minimising wasted space in the landing, making that one connected area and enlarging the dormer windows. These rooms are now more balanced and liveable, despite the addition of lots of insulation under the rafters, which obviously reduces ceiling space. Our client came up with the great idea of adding raised seats under the dormers with in-built desks.’
Have you renovated a house? Which changes made the biggest impact? Tell us in the Comments below.
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