Picture
Caption: #5ofthebest MAGDALA MEWS
Caption: You might think that choosing a favourite house and blog post of the year would be a tricky decision, but this house was an instinctive number 1 in this #5ofthebest series. This isn't in any way a reflection on the other properties I've featured either here or on The Property Files in 2014. Far from it. I've had the opportunity to write about some truly spectacular houses - and that isn't a phrase I use very often.
It's just that this house in Edinburgh's West End is the house I want to live in.
Picture
Picture
Caption: So that statement takes a bit of explanation. The thing is, I've known the owners for years. I first met Andrew Fletcher when writing a magazine feature on another property he owned - a Georgian flat in Edinburgh - and then, a year or two later, I interviewed his partner Rachel Green about her Edinburgh home. They didn't know each other at the time.
Andrew owns the business Twentieth Century Antiques, specializing in the most beautiful midcentury and postwar design. We'd always kept in touch. Then Andrew met Rachel, and then, fast forward a few years and a few more projects together, the couple came to this mews house tucked up a cobbled lane in Edinburgh's West End. I wrote about this house for The Guardian in 2013, and when redesigning the Files in March last year, this was the house I chose to relaunch it with.
So, you see, there's history.
And when I visited Magdala Mews to interview Andrew and Rachel - who now work together in the business - I realised that this was a house I could live in. My partner picked me up after the interview. He agreed. If only, we said, if only.
Picture
Picture
Caption: I have 'a thing' about cleverly designed compact urban living. About houses that make the most of small plots, and defy your preconceptions in terms of their space and flow. Of houses that don't shout at you with their design, but still make an impact. That have a sense of craftsmanship. That are completely right in their location, yet retain that element of surprise.
This house has all of that. Here, Rachel and Andrew discuss the design ideas behind their home.
Caption: What attracted you to this property? Rachel: Thirty years ago when the townhouse behind this building was divided into three flats, the annex building – the one bedroom property we bought - was sold off with the garden, so this really was one of a kind. I’d rented a mews house before and loved the whole sense of community that comes with mews living.
Also, between us, we’d had seven properties and they’d all been flats, so we wanted our own front door and roof, and this gave us the chance to build, which is something we'd always wanted to do.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Caption: How did you go about the design process? Andrew: Because there were two existing buildings – the original one bedroom house with a conservatory and a garage – we were able to use the same footprint and build this extension where the conservatory and garage used to be. The local planning department wanted a distinct separation between old and new, which led to the glazed link.
We knew from the outset that the original part of the house, which previously had a living room and kitchen, was going to be the main bedroom. It made sense for the living and dining and kitchen space to be in the new extension, opening out into the garden. This arrangement felt like the natural flow of the property.
We worked with architect Akiko Kobayashi of Kobayashi Studio (kobayashi-studio.com). The design concept was really an amalgamation of years spent researching things and taking inspiration from Scandinavian and modernist houses.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Caption: How did you choose the external palette? Andrew: We wanted the house to have really clean lines, so we chose the anthracite-hued zinc for the roof and charcoal render for the exterior, which is by a company called Sto. It’s a very neutral colour against the surrounding stone.
The windows and doors are painted in RAL 7021, which is described as ‘black grey’. In the glass link, we took the glazing into the stone walls rather than creating a frame between the glass and the walls, so it’s very clean lined.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Caption: There are quite a few bespoke elements - why did you take this approach? Rachel: We wanted a kitchen that would feel like furniture, so we went back to this ideal of midcentury furniture, which is something we’re both passionate about. The kitchen was made by Richard Anstice of 56 North. We took the idea from a Danish ice bucket that Andrew bought for my birthday. It’s a 1950s piece by Jens Quistgaard with a teak exterior and an orange interior. Rather than teak we used iroko, and picked up the orange on the wall cabinets and on the island.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Caption: Rachel: Richard also made the built-in oak wardrobes for the bedroom upstairs. Because the ceiling upstairs is coombed, it made practical sense to have wardrobes made, but we also like that feeling of walking through a wooden box into the room. We wanted this bedroom to have a more Scandinavian country feel.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Caption: In terms of the furnishings, what are the key pieces? Andrew: In the main space, the pair of PK22 lounge chairs were designed by Poul Kjaerholm and manufactured by E Kold Christensen. The pendant lights are by Gubi.
The rosewood sideboard was designed by Florence Knoll and manufactured by Knoll Associates, while the Swan Lounge Chair was designed by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen. The dining table is a 1960s Arkana design.
We sourced all the refurbished cast iron radiators from an architectural salvage yard, while the woodburning stove is the Cove 1 stove by Charnwood.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Caption: Andrew: In the main bedroom, the bed is a 1950s Danish design by an unknown designer, I’m afraid, while both the Egg chair and the Swan chair were designed by Arne Jacobsen.
The blanket on the bed is a traditional Welsh design from the 1960s. The rosewood desk is 1950s Danish piece, and the artwork above is an original print by Henry Cliffe from 1964. The floor lamp is a French design from the 1950s and the figurative sculpture on the window sill is a Czechoslovakian piece from the 1920s that I bought in Prague.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Caption: Are there any details or spaces that have exceeded your expectations? Rachel: I absolutely love the vestibule, which is clad in timber. I love walking in here in the morning and getting that waft of cedar.
Andrew: I like sitting at the dining table with the doors open looking out into the garden, but one of my favourite moments about the house is when you come round the corner into the mews – there’s that anticipation of walking through the gate to this.
We’ve also realized that if you successfully combine a great design, attention to detail, light and outdoor space, we don’t need a huge space with lots of room to be really happy.
Picture
Caption: ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY
SEAN BEGLEY
Picture
Caption: Aesthetically, this house is 'us'. It's turned out exactly as we imagined it would.
~ Rachel Green
Caption: The house was marketed and sold last year by Strutt & Parker:
struttandparker.com
All photography by Sean Begley of Exposure:
photographyandfloorplans.co.uk/
Caption: With thanks to
Rachel and Andrew
Twentieth Century Antiques: twentiethcenturyantiques.co.uk/
On Instagram: instagram.com/twentiethcenturyantiques
On Twitter:
twitter.com/20thcantiques
On Pinterest: pinterest.com/20thcantiques/
