BEFORE & AFTER HOME
TAKING ON A HOUSE THAT NO ONE ELSE WANTED GAVE JESSICA AND HARRY THEIR OWN DREAM HOME
Kitchen
The couple extended into the garden and the side return space to create their new kitchen. Black lighting and stools complement the dark units in this well-lit space.
HOME NOTES
Jessica Dunn, an interior designer (studiodunn.co.uk) and Harry Gayner, head of account management, live here with their children Bea, three, and Kit, three months.
A renovated and extended Victorian terraced house in east London.
The original four-bed house was bought for £790,000.
J essicaand Harry had only just started dating when the search for what would become their family home began. Harry had been looking for a place to buy and with Jessica an interior designer, he was keen to have her opinion. ‘Before one of our first dinner dates he took me to look round a few houses,’ says Jessica. ‘This one had been on the market for a long time because of its state of disrepair.’ It had also been vacant for a year, and previously a rental property. ‘But the fact that it needed so much work was appealing,’ says Jessica. ‘It had three floors, with a flat roof which could accommodate a mansard roof extension – and enormous potential.’
A PHASED APPROACH
The couple initially just redecorated. ‘A few years later when we had got the funds we began the roof, the side return and rear extensions,’ explains Jessica. ‘We also had to rebuild the staircases as the existing ones were dangerously steep, which meant a re-levelling of the floors.’
PLANNING PROBLEMS
Although the couple sought advice at a preapplication meeting with the council, getting planning permission wasn’t straightforward.
‘When we put the original application in it was rejected,’ says Jessica. ‘There weren’t any houses on the street with a mansard roof visible from the street.’ Fortunately, the couple’s architect, Jonathan Dunn Architects (jdarchitects.co.uk), managed to overcome this issue by tweaking the plans to include a steep angle with big dormer windows, which the council eventually passed.
BIG CHANGES
The back of the house had been previously rebuilt cheaply after presumed subsidence, so this was taken down and an extension in London stock brick added over three floors to match the original Victorian style. ‘Th is was a big hit to our budget,’ says Jessica. ‘In the lowerground floor we wanted a fully open-plan space with as much natural light as possible, views to the garden, and the option of dividing off the kitchen.’ The architect suggested dropping the floor level in the space by 10cm, which has made a real difference to the feel of the room,
