Restoration of Deborah and Lloyd’s Beautiful Richmond Townhouse

Work is well underway on our restoration of a grand Victorian home in Richmond’s St. Matthias Conservation Area which had been subdivided into three flats. We are reuniting the house into a single dwelling as it was originally intended.

This photo from before we began work on the house shows how the rear of this Victorian Building of Townscape Merit had been spoiled by an inefficient, incongruous and ugly jumble of modifications since it had first been built.

The ground floor extension was a particular oddity, jutting out and overshadowing the already light-starved floor below, built in a style that neither matches nor tastefully contrasts with the original structure.

And this is the house as it looks now. What a relief!

Our team of contractors have torn off the entire mess of additions on the lower ground and ground floors to flatten out the rear of the house, giving us a blank canvas to work upon.

Construction will now begin on a two storey extension that unites the lower ground and ground floors with a single architectural style while providing a significant increase in floor space and vastly improved garden access.

The only addition that was worth retaining at the rear of the house is this steel balcony, which is currently floating in the air, held up by steel supports which you can see in red above. You definitely don’t want to accidentally walk out the first floor door!

Everything else, however, is due to be removed. The glass balustrades will be swapped out for more sympathetic wrought iron replacements, while the poor quality aluminium frame doors will be removed to make way for period-appropriate painted timber French doors.

This rear wall – once overshadowed by the ground floor extension – will be removed and the garden in front of it excavated to make room for the new rear extension, which will feature sliding doors opening directly onto the terrace of the newly landscaped garden.

The plans below give a sense of what the house will appear once our the works have been completed. A combination of matching and contrasting elements will give new life to a fine piece of architecture that has been so tragically mistreated.

Do you also have a home rich in potential just waiting to be unlocked? Then you should speak t us to find out how you could make the most of it. You can call us now on 020 3918 2244 or email [email protected]