Our Mid-Century House - featured in Good Homes Magazine
August 9, 2012
Last month our unusual Mid-Century house in Dulwich was featured in Good Homes Magazine. It is wonderful to see it in print as the renovation journey has been challenging, fun and at times seemed never ending. Bearing in mind how difficult it is to buy a home we are lucky to have had the opportunity. After our previous house, a 4 bedroom Victorian house, we SWORE "never again" ....but when we saw this house all was forgotten. I spotted it on the internet in 2007, these pictures are the very same (complete with womble!!) - and it was love at first sight!
It was in an incredibly poor state and needed new central heating and rewiring, a new kitchen, two bathrooms, re-plastering... there wasn’t much it didn't need except windows. Unfortunately these were the only improvement the previous owner had done - shame they were UPVC...YUK! Its prohibitively expensive to replace with crittall … if we win the lottery.....
The space had such potential, split level and light beyond the nets and ruched curtains (I think that’s the technical term!?). The house was designed in the late 1950' by Austin Vernon & Partners. There is an excellent history of the houses of the Dulwich Estate in Mid Century Magazine. Unique design features include the use of internal windows to maximise the views and draw light from every aspect. The living room is above the bedrooms and has a huge floor to ceiling window overlooking the woods and city. As you walk in the front door you look up at glass panelled windows, which lead through to the living room picture window. There is a huge internal window in the sitting room which looks down into the kitchen, again from the sitting room you can see the front garden. There are so many clever features to this house, it was so obviously designed with genuine passion and intelligence. If we were ever in the position to commission an architect this would be the house we would hope they would come up with.
There is much more about the interior in Good Homes Magazine, which you can now get on their app, so I will keep it brief. What I will say is some things are done, when you renovate, for practical reasons. We love wood floors and, if we had had an unlimited budget, would have a beautiful wooden floor with soundproofing laid in the sitting room instead of carpet, a solely practical choice as we sleep below. The fire is the sitting room would have a heautiful stone hearth with a stylish and discreet surround. In practice it is a super efficient coal effect fire designed to heat a large room quickly - warm and cozy which suits us fine! A couple of other things...the dining room table..well we are still looking and saving for a beautiful table….one day. Also on the wish list is a Jonathan Adler sun light, to replace the rather traditional one next to the bed-not really me. Apart from these we are delighted with the house, love the kitchen which my friend Steve Collins made, the hallways, bathrooms and studio.
When you buy a house you are really only custodians. Our old house, which we did significant work to, has now been bought by an architect we know. He works for an excellent practice and I imagine they are going to do a loft conversion and kitchen extension. We considered these but, after doing so much, felt we'd like to move on. We are thrilled they bought it and know the work they do will be stunning. We played our part in bringing that house back to life, as we have done with this.
For further information please see Good Homes Magazine (Sept edition) available on app. Keep your eye on my website sarahhamiltonprints.com as we have Artist Open House events here, as part of Dulwich Festival, where I display my work alongside friends. If you are in Shoreditch this December I will also be showing at THE EAST LONDON DESIGN SHOW.
