DREAM HOME
GETTING ON THEIR BIKES AND PUTTING NOTES THROUGH DOORS FINALLY BAGGED ALISON AND RUSS GEORGE A BEACHSIDE BUNGALOW THEY COULD TURN INTO THEIR DREAM HOME
Dining area
‘We designed a wraparound window and put our dining table here so we can enjoy the garden view. As the garden is secluded we didn’t need curtains, which gives a clean, unfussy look.’
Looking for a specific dream property in a very contained area meant Alison and Russ took to patrolling the neighbourhood searching for a potential project. ‘We were looking to downsize from our Victorian home in Brighton to something beachside in nearby Shoreham,’ explains Alison. ‘Our vision was one that brought together the austere landscape of Dungeness and the elegance of architect John Lautner’s smart, single-storey house that featured in the movie A Single Man. Finding a house to match that vision was not so easy and beachside houses don’t come up often.’
The local estate agents had waiting lists, so the couple started slipping notes through the letterboxes of houses they liked. Once they had spotted the house they wanted, there was no stopping them. ‘We had to be decisive as we were the first buyers to see this house and we offered the asking price straight off. I don’t think it was even structurally sound but having renovated Victorian houses in the past and with Russ being a builder, I felt confident we could handle the remodelling of a bungalow.’
Kitchen
‘We hid most of the workings of the kitchen behind floor-toceiling doors,’ says Alison. The couple designed and built the kitchen themselves using basic carcasses and MDF doors.
CONCRETE COUNTERS
‘Russ is a builder by trade so was confident to take on the pouring of the concrete counter. It saved us so much money’
Living room
‘The wood is one of my favourite features and brings warmth to the central living space. I love the sense of nature it brings to the room, which could have felt cold and bland without it.’
WOOD CLADDING
‘The timber cladding flows from the ceiling down on the dividing wall and creates a cosy, contained feeling’
