SURREY HOUSE
Owning a vintage furniture business meant that Claire and Jamie McFadyen had plenty of inspiration – and furniture – for their Victorian conversion
FEATURE ALISON DAVIDSON
Nestled in a valley hidden from the road and surrounded by the fields and trees of the Surrey countryside, Claire and Jamie McFadyen’s Victorian house is a special place to spend Christmas. ‘We had no intention of moving house, having just finished a renovation project,’ explains Claire. ‘However, my parents were thinking of moving and were on various estate agent’s lists. When my father was sent the details oft his house, he showed , and said “this looks like a belter!” so we went to see it –and fell in love with it.’
Claire and Jamie put in an offer, but to be able to afford it, they would have to sell their newly finished house in nearby Wallington and a rental property they owned, quickly. Luckily they sold both properties with in sixmonths.
‘The house was in a great spot – there aren’t any other houses nearby, and it’s set back from the road,’ says Claire. ‘There is amanor house a short distance away and our house was built for the man who looked after the hunting dogs. An old couple had been living here for 25 years and it was in a pretty bad state. It was cold, damp and everything needed doing, but we could see it had good bones.’
Claire and Jamie moved in with Claire’s parents while the house was re-wired, re-plumbed, chimneys repointed, heating put in and fireplaces replaced. It was painted throughout and made liveable. Nine months later, they moved in. ‘The house was by no means finished, but at least it was warm and dry,’ says Claire.
The couple had always planned to extend the tiny kitchen but it was two and a half years of saving before they could tackle it. ‘We wanted atwostorey extension at the back of the house to give us an open-plan kitchen/diner, a study, utility room and downstairs cloakroom on the ground floor, and dressing room and en suite off the master bedroom on the first floor,’ says Jamie. The first job wastoknockdownanoldconservatory at the back of the house, then the building work began, but it wasn’t plain sailing. As the house is so far from the road, and up a slope, it was difficult to have materials delivered. To have the cement poured for the foundations, the road had to be closed for the lorry and the cement was pumped up the slope to the site. ‘We weren’t very
