A spectacular riverside backdrop was the starting point for the dramatic renovation of Evelyn and Simon Burton’s Edwardian home in Dartmouth
WordsSHARON PARSONSPhotographyRICHARD GADSBY
Evelyn and Simon Burton had very particular criteria when they began to look for the house they now call home. ‘We wanted a period property with good parking, a level garden and last, but not least, a view,’ recalls Evelyn, as she gazes out from the terrace, taking in the rooftops of Dartmouth below and the sea beyond. ‘But while some people might think all that should be fairly easy to achieve, it proved quite a tall order here,’ she explains.
The beautiful riverside town in Devon is famed for its many hills, higgledy-piggledy streets linked by steep steps, and unique buildings – but with that historic charm come compromises. ‘Finding a property with just one thing on our wish list was proving difficult, and we were beginning to think it was never going to happen,’ says Evelyn.
The couple had been holidaying in the town for many years before moving to Devon. ‘We were living in north London but absolutely loved visiting, and had thought for a long time about making the move,’ she explains. ‘It was a big change though, so originally we bought a little cottage for holidays to test the water. After a year, we knew this was the right place for us.’
Unfortunately, the perfect house continued to evade them. ‘Then one day I called an estate agent, mainly to bemoan the fact that nothing ever seemed to be available,’ she says. ‘I was told that a house was about to come on the market, and it just might be what we were looking for! We wasted no time in going to see it and straight away we crossed everything off on our tick list.’
The imposing Edwardian house stands on a road that runs high above the town on land that was once part of a large family estate, which also incorporated the Britannia Royal Naval College. ‘When plots were auctioned off, the house was built for the college’s fleet paymaster,’ says Evelyn. ‘The original staircase in what was the servants’ quarters sits in a cupboard in what is now our boot room.’
The house had undergone a series of changes since then, being turned into flats and
