New life has been breathed into this Georgian house on a leafy London square, thanks to its owners’ determination to marry its original character with a welcoming contemporary aesthetic
FEATURE SHARON PARSONS PHOTOGRAPHY ASTRID TEMPLIER
The Georgian townhouse that Melissa Payne and her partner Andrew Griffiths viewed back in the autumn of 2020 was in a sorry state. “It had been in the same family for more than 50 years before being sold to new owners who had literally gutted it, but then decided to sell,” Melissa explains. “It was nothing but an empty shell, and at that point, we were adamant we didn’t want to take such a vast project on.”
While they had been a couple for several years, Melissa and Andrew had not yet bought a home together. “We have four grown-up children between us who have flown the nest, so we felt it was the ideal time to make a big change,” Melissa says. “We both had separate homes in the Midlands, but London has always been a city we love, and a lot of our family also lives here. So, unlike a lot of people at this stage of life, we decided to move into a city rather than out of one.”
Having initially discounted the house because of its daunting bare-boned condition, the pair spent a further nine months viewing numerous properties that were ‘finished’, but nothing felt quite right. Somehow this one, still on the market, kept tugging at them. “So much about it was right,” Melissa recalls. “There was the space – it runs over five storeys – and, not least, the fantastic height of the ceilings. There were original features such as the Georgian window panes, the shutters, and the cornicing. Crucially, it already had planning permission in place. It’s a Grade II listed property in a conservation area, so this was a big tick, as it would allow us to make the changes it needed to work for a modern lifestyle. In the end, we realised it was everything we hoped for – it would just take a bit of time and forbearance to get it right.”
Renting a flat nearby, the couple worked closely with the architect who had been working on the original renovation, tweaking the plans to ensure they fitted their requirements. While the layout would remai
