This suburban house reaches new heights thanks to the vision and determination of one couple and their architects
WORDS JAYNE DOWLE PHOTOGRAPHY LUKASZ WIELKOSZYNSKI
HOMES LONDON
The extensive renovation and extension works to Jamie and Becky Norton’s three-storey family home took more than a decade to complete, mainly due to lengthy negotiations with the local authority over planning permission for one important aspect of the project.
Musician and composer Jamie, 49, and Becky, 48, who is a massage therapist and skincare formulator, have two sons, Miller, 14, and Ned, 11. After buying the house in 2010, the couple couldn’t afford to make any major alterations to it straight away, except for painting everything white. Work on a ground-floor extension started in late 2011 with the removal of an old lean-to extension and side-return enclosure, plus structural alterations to provide an open-plan living space and kitchen.
‘At the start of the build we moved upstairs and made a very small kitchen in our back bedroom with a couple of portable electric rings and lots of storage boxes,’ says Jamie. Later they house-sat for friends and rented a flat for several months, moving back in two years after the work began.
Original Victorian features contrast with the new contemporary elements, and the timber floorboards are finished in a traditional way with white soap and lye that creates a whitewashed effect.
In managing the renovation and extensions projects, lead architect William Tozer took inspiration from the work of the late Gordon Matta-Clark, an American artist known for installations that sliced through properties in Paris, France, and New York, USA.
‘Matta-Clark’s Conical Intersect piece involved making a spiralling series of circular cuts through two derelict historical buildings in Paris,’ William explains. ‘This gave uncanny layered views through, out of, and into the structures.’
The design of Jamie and Becky’s home creates a similar effect. Looking at the back of the house, the loft and kitchen extensions are offset horizontally and vertically, producing interesting angular shapes. Inside, the top two floors are on split levels and the glazing has slim frames to bring in maximum light and create impact.
Work on the top floor came in phase two, with a plan to build a mansard loft extension and an adjoining extension to the closet wing – the rear plane of the roof – that
