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The Househunter 7/5/15

Starting off with a house tour rather than a house for sale this week. This belongs to the artist and designer Sarah Hamilton who, having sworn never to renovate a house again, fell hook, line and sinker for this 1960s gem back in 2007.

Sarah H - Kitchen 3

It was in a terrible state (much like The Mad House) and needed rewiring, plumbing, central heating, plastering. In fact, the only thing she didn’t need to replace was the windows. Which were new. But UPVC, and in the same way that the Mad House fantasises about lottery-funding for this house, so too does Sarah – for she dreams of Crittal.

Sarah H - Kitchen 2

The house, in Dulwich, south London, was designed in the late 1950s by Austin Vernon and Partners. Its very wonderful features include internal windows which flood the house with light. Writing on her blog, Sarah says: “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, and from the sitting room you can see the front garden.

Sarah H - Living Room

“There are so many clever features to this house. If we were ever in the position to commission an architect this would be the house we would hope they would come up with.”

Sarah H - Studio 1

Above is Sarah’s studio which brings us to the reason for this post. You can’t buy this house but you can visit it this weekend as part of the Dulwich Open House weekend. There will be lots of Sarah’s fab woodblock designs to see (and buy) and also the chance to meet Emily Quinton, author of Maker Spaces, which features this very maker space within its pages (but with many more pictures – you’ll have to buy the book to see!).

Sarah H - Bedoom 1

Emily will be signing copies of her book and, presumably, you can ask Sarah to sign her pages too. There will also be cake. For details of where to go click here.

Sarah H - Bedroom

Shall we see another? This one you can buy. I’m including it because (unless this is your first time on the blog, you will know that we are converting the loft – yawn, yawn, what shall I talk about when it’s done?) and we have decided that in addition to leaving all the rafter visible – to create the impress of more head height and hopefully an airy feel – we are going to leave them in their natural wood and just paint the plasterboard between. Much like this house featured below.

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It’s on the market with The Modern House for £1,900,000. So I’m using the phrase “you can buy” relatively loosely here. Anyway it’s just outside Leighton Buzzard, which is about a 30 minute commute from London, Euston.

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I love the details in this one. Just look at that landing with those discreet cupboards – when I buy it (!) I’m going to remove those handles and make it push close so that it’s all flush and doesn’t distract from the wooden panelling.

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This is what I meant about leaving the wooden rafters and painting the ceiling. The floor will be painted white but I think it will look good to have some natural wood on show too and having seen the beams they will be using already (see Boy’s Room Makeover to find out how that came about) I know they’re a lovely warm colour.

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For more pictures of this house click the link above. We’re just going to have a little poke around this one, which is also on with The Modern House but what a fabulous location. The vendors want £1,750,00 for this one which is in Esher, Surrey and has five or six bedrooms depending on how you configure the space.

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It’s on a no through road by this lake and is described (along with its neighbours) as being among the largest and most refined of Britain’s 20th-century architect-designed houses. This particular property has the largest plot on Lakeside Drive and arguably the best lake views.

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I could sit in that room looking at that view all day.

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And look at the size of the space. Actually, I might only be in the sitting room for a third of the day because you’d need to spend time in this bathroom too wouldn’t you?

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And then of course the bedroom, which has no less of a view. For more images and details click the links above.

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And in the meantime have a fantabulous day. May it be filled with wine and cake.

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

3 Comments

  1. Really love the wooden rafters with the ceiling painted inbetween . A definite for your fab new loft .

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