A view of the drawing room from the other side: Katie had the tall corner cupboards made for the drawing room; they contain a kettle, a sink, and a bar, painted in a bespoke colour. The William Yeoward Christian sofa is upholstered in Zak & Fox Tapinu, with cushions made up in De La Cuona’s Vienna Velvet in Tango. The tapestry on the back wall is by Daisy Ginsberg
It enabled Katie and her team to ‘begin with flow’, and work with Alex Tart Architects on modern extensions to the basement and side-return – the latter over two storeys – a conventional approach made particular by the gracefulness of execution. There’s now a study on the raised ground floor, and a broad staircase leading down to a generous open plan kitchen and dining room, abutted by a sizeable playroom that can be shut off. For the owners do entertain, and the reception rooms above have been retained as a drawing room and a music room. The bedrooms were organised with the observation from the owner that they didn’t need to be big, as ‘we are a family who want everyone to gravitate towards the living areas.’ It enables the children, on their floor, to have two bathrooms, ‘which they’ll appreciate as teenagers,’ notes Katie (whose has grandchildren.)
A view of the music room from the drawing room: the north-facing music room has been painted in Francesca’s Paint Sea Kale, and the washed linen curtains have been edged in Pink House by Rebecca Cole, Imole Gilt. The rug is from the Peter Page x Turner Pocock series. The Rose Uniacke Club Armchair is upholstered in De La Cuona Pure Equator in Wildfire EQU9
Katie has a progressive attitude towards the architectural details that so effect the character of a room (she has famously removed them in her own Edwardian house) and saw their inherited lack as an opportunity. ‘We could choose what to put back – and that was mouldings that have a Victorian profile and proportion, but not the fussiness.’ There are no ceiling roses, no mantlepieces over the fireplaces – while flat-fronted panelling affords warmth to the soaring, north-facing music room, and natural light has been maximised by glass panels in the internal doors. ‘It’s an understated take on period appropriateness, and there’s no jarring in transition to the modern extension,’ she observes.
Notable is the series of clever features that ameliorate the owners’ lives. An attractive pair of tall corner cupboards in the drawing room conceal a bar, a sink and a kettle, so drinks can be made without having to traipse up and down stairs. Thought has been applied to the laundry room, and capacious cloakrooms for coats, shoes, ‘and buggies,’ lists the owner, recounting Katie’s helpful expertise when it came to such planning. And the dining area can be given a sense of separation by filling an inset trough in the almost 10-feet-long kitchen island with flowers, allowing caterers to work unseen, and prettily mirroring the garden opposite.