Polly and David Richard refused to be defeated when undertaking a huge renovation project alongside managing their busy careers and impending parenthood. Living on site only made the realisation of their dream home that much sweeter
FEATURE AMY MAYNARD PHOTOGRAPHY RICHARD GADSBY
It takes a certain amount of grit and determination to live on site during a major renovation – and that is not even taking into account holding down high-pressure careers and expecting a baby. But that is exactly what Polly Richard, 36, and her husband David, 38, did after buying their detached Victorian property in Surrey.
The couple bought the four-bedroom property, which was built in 1884, in 2016. They had been living half a mile away and had often walked down the street looking at the houses on their way to and from the train station during their commute to work. “We had always admired the houses but assumed they would be out of our budget,” says Polly. Luckily that was not the case. The house they eventually bought was a probate sale, which meant Polly and David were forced to stay with friends and family for six months until the grant of probate came through and they were able to complete on their purchase. “We wanted it so much we were willing to wait,” says Polly. By the time they had moved in and building work began, a year had passed and Polly was 11 weeks pregnant with Ralph, now five.
The previous family had owned the house for 60 years and, suffice to say, the couple faced a huge project, all the while juggling Polly’s work as a lawyer and David’s job in finance. “There was no central heating but coal fires in every room, even the bathrooms,” Polly explains. “We had no choice but to live in the kitchen while the work was being done. We had no bathroom, heating or electricity. We both worked such long hours that we showered and ate at work.”
Rewiring, plumbing, carpentry, full redecoration – there was a long list of things to get done. So it was not long before things did start to, rather literally, get a bit on top of them. One unfortunate day, a few months into the build, when Polly returned home from work late one night, she found the ceiling had caved in. The builders had been stress-testing the floor above the kitchen to check whether it could bear the weight of a cast-iron bath and the ceiling collapsed onto their bed, which was set up below.
Things soon went from bad to worse, especially given emotions becoming heightened as Polly’s due date neared. “We ha
