Tour – First a Little Introduction Walk Around the Outside
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Category Archives: Tour
Tour – Entering from the South Side
The brief to the architect was to completely change the old house and create something very new and contemporary in terms of a living space. It was such a dark house before – caused by the orientation facing north where you most wanted light (at the back). He was also asked to tackle the light within the property and get light admitted everywhere possible – so now there are seven roof windows from Velux, and three large Bifolds at the back. In fact, we have also slightly reduced the light on the south side (front) which roasts in summer. You have to have lived on this site to know the challenges that the sunlight brings.
The house is now clad on the whole upper storey (insulation behind the cladding), and the driveway much enlarged. The garage is also a metre longer (modern cars are bigger) and the property is wired ready for the issue that electric car charging will bring. It is also ready for fibre optic cable when it arrives this decade.
It’ll obviously look a bit less stark when the garden beds at the front of the property are planted up!!
The plot is still very private and largely concealed from view at the road, and well secluded on other boundaries.
Tour – The East Side
There is a much wider path around the side and a log store is situated here – used for Council garden disposal sacks (paper!) to keep them dry.
The little silver turret is the new balanced flu for the fireplace, making the chimney redundant.
The traditional Kent “look” is often one of part boarded houses, with over-lapping planks. Indeed, the old house had the front gable over the old front door boarded in this way. In order to go for massive insulation all around the upper story we have boarded the entire property – the boards sit over 100mm of insulation – in fact over 200mm of insulation on the old gable which we discovered was actually a single thickness black wall. There was daylight showing between the blocks in the roof when we took the old cladding off.
Anyway – as a result, the east wall is now boarded. The colour is just a slightly off white, of course called “silver”!!
Sorting out this east side enabled the architect to install a new small patio at the sunniest part of the plot. It is accessible from a new French window at the front of the lounge (used to be a conventional window there). The gardener will plant a low hedge to separate it from the driveway area. It should be a lovely “morning coffee” area!
Tour – The North Side
The north side of the house is dramatically changed.
Most impacted, there is now a double aspect kitchen and breakfast area – maybe 35 feet long, stretching from front to back. We figure this is the room which we shall spend most time in and is central to the whole concept. It opens onto the flat access level, rear patios via very huge doors. The kitchen came from demolishing the old sewing room at the front, then extending out the back.
Next thing that changes the back of the property is that this north wing also doubles the size of the dining room. We figure this next empty nest phase may include some very much larger groups for dining, so it makes sense. It did though come out a larger than expected. The 10-12 seat dining table still looks lost in there.
This gear change made the architect go for three en-suite double bedrooms plus two smaller bedrooms (now an office and a dressing room). Much more useful to have three double en-suite bedrooms for visitors. The bathrooms are fabulous, by the way. There its enough space in the west wing to give bedroom 2 its own new dressing room.
Tour – The New North Patio
Being the north side of the house, old tiny-patio layout made it impossible to enjoy the outside at the back. The architect took the opportunity to enlarge the patio so that it would have sun and shade. The builders then laid a retaining wall all the way across the back and levelled up the remaining garden – and it all looks splendid.
The level of the patio has been raised a huge amount and there is almost level access as you step from inside to outside. With all the bifold doors folded away in their open position, this should make a a very attractive inside/outside living area in summer. And you don’t have to bend down to weed the flower beds!! The grey rectangles in the wall are downlighters to illuminate the space at night.
The doorway on the right (double doors) is the back of the sewing room. Triple doors to the left open from the breakfast area and kitchen.
The slabs are actually vitrified porcelain and in an intriguing colourway called “copper”. It has different characters in the wet and dry days.
Doors to the kitchen and breakfast area
Early spring sun – it should get much better mid season!
Downlighter
Tour – The West Wing
In figuring out what our future needs will be, there was a realisation that there was a need for more space not down sizing. The house is possibly a third larger and much of this comes from a new west wing incorporating the old garage block.
The right hand door, the one with two panes, is at the north end of the sewing room and marks the start of the West Wing. Before, this was the open space lying between the house and the garage. The tiny old carbuncle of a utility room stood pretty much where that doorway is.
The tall left hand window is one part of the sewing room, central window is the utility room, and the door opens on to the bike room.
New back door matching the front! We are still waiting for the two locks to be coordinated!
This side access never existed before – it was crammed full of laurels and inaccessible.
Tour – The Driveway
The new driveway is 2-3 times the size of the old one. Parking restrictions around neighbourhoods like this mean you have accommodate your own guests cars.
It is laid in three layers – a hardcore laser levelled part goes in first, then tarmac layer goes on next, then finally a multi-coloured gravel layer goes in and is bonded in place with a resin and left to dry. It took three chaps on their hands and knees two days to trowel in the gravel by hand. Looks lovely though and is probably the most commented on feature of the whole house. It really strikes you the minute you enter the gates.
They have also managed to have a bonded finish on the manhole covers to make them almost disappear. The drive also has a car washing drain, a car charging point and beneath it lies a big cable duct to take fibre optic cable when it arrives in the next decade.
The front door – porch yet to be added!
Tour – The Entrance Hall
Brand new to the house is a nice entrance hall on the front of the property. You enter through a very wide (1.3metres) entrance door – one of these highly insulated German engineered things… it has no conventional hinges but instead a pivot. The little slit of a window acts as a concealed grip handle on the outside… which illuminates at night!!
Inside you are immediately struck by the warm applewood floor, and it’s very light – illumination by two computer controlled Velux windows in the gable roof overhead.
Pretty pleased that the lines in this door and side windows matches well with the lines in the internal oak doors … and feature in the skirtings! That little black thing on the door is actually like a little iPhone to let you view who is outside.
View through to the dining room (double doors). The old cloakroom is behind that door on the left.
two of these Velux windows illuminate the space from above
Our shoe bench – now a prized acquisition!
Tour – Stairs from Hall to the Landing
One of the lovely new features is the oak and glass staircase leading from the entrance hall to the upstairs landing. This was custom made by a local joiner in Staplehurst called Glade Joinery. A super job it is too.
The overwhelming thing about all this is the oak feel to everything. The landing at the top of the stairs used to be very dark but now has a glazed door from “the office” letting light in.
You might notice that there are tiny little safety lights along some of the stair treads going up the stairs – this was the electrician’s favourite feature!
This used to be the old airing cupboard. The new water tank is much larger and that mass of pipes is to control the new upstairs heating – each radiator has its own zone and each room its own thermostat – all computer controlled from the iPhone! We may yet have to find a clever way to vent this cupboard though.
Tour – The Lounge
We had all the downstairs doors widened to wheelchair width, so you enter the lounge through the old doorway but it’s a bit wider.
I’d say this room was relatively unchanged, but we ripped the fireplace out and put a studio fire in – so in addition to the lack of radiators (underfloor heating) it makes the room seem a bit wider.
We also took the front window out and installed large french windows at the front – out on to a new little south facing patio – the sunniest spot on the plot!
This is probably a good moment to mention the windows. We replaced the whole lot in the end with Danish triple glazed windows. They are aluminium on the outside and wood on the inside. Very nice they are – and look very contemporary – no white horizontal lines anywhere! All the upstairs windows are reversible so they can be cleaned from the inside.
I might also mention the interior doors. All widened downstairs and the pre-existing width upstairs. Gone are the horrid old mahogany panelled 1970s doors. These doors are solid oak with a beautiful weight and feel, The handles are all from Karcher in Germany and bolt through the doors to each other, so no more “hanging off” looks!! The handles are in stainless steel and polished stainless steel shiny bits. They also have their own return springs which you would think was no big deal but on the double doors, where there are no latches, it is important that the handles feel the same as every other door. The carpenter said He’d “never seen anything like them”. I was surprised too that it took over two weeks I think to hang all the doors – there are quite a lot of matching wardrobe doors in addition to the house doors. Over 30 I think in total. By the way, the wardrobe door handles match the kitchen handles….
Taken from the Hall entrance door, facing toward the back garden.
Taken from the back patio doorway
Studio fire
House Project 