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Caption: #5ofthebest TOWNHOUSE LIVING
Caption: Sometimes I'll arrive at a house and straight away, whether from the exterior or perhaps once inside in the hallway, I just know that the interior is going to be special; that it's going to offer something 'different' and individual.
That was my experience when visiting this fantastic townhouse in Edinburgh's West End earlier this year. It's the second property in my #5ofthebest series from 2014.
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Caption: When I featured this house on Copperline, I commented that I could have written two posts: one devoted to the open plan kitchen, dining and living space on the garden level of this four-floor property, and a second about the rest of the house, which is just as impressive, from the interconnected drawing and dining rooms on the ground floor to the master suite that takes up the entire first floor. (Yes, the entire first floor. It’s stunning.)
In the blog post I focussed on the garden level which was the highlight of this home for me. It's a cliché, I know, but a great kitchen can really be the heart of a home. So often it's the area people just gravitate towards, and I can certainly imagine living in this multi-tasking space.
Caption: This property is now on the market with Strutt & Parker.
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Caption: This space also illustrates owners Katie and John Donnelly's approach throughout the house as they've combined beautiful materials with great attention to detail.
For example, rather than adding tiling behind the range cooker as a splashback, the couple used Carrara marble tiles to clad an entire wall, creating a gorgeously tactile feature. The solid oak kitchen cabinetry is by Neptune with Silestone worktops, while those understated glass pendant lights are from Jim Lawrence. The limestone floor tiles are warmed by underfloor heating.
As John says: “We didn’t want anything that would date. You can get a great looking modern kitchen, but you don’t know what it’ll look like in five years time, and we wanted to know that we wouldn’t be changing anything down the line.”
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Caption: It isn’t every day that I turn up at a house and find myself swooning over the kitchen larder, but this larder demonstrates how even the smallest, most functional space in a house can benefit from a bit of inspired thinking.
The bespoke cabinetry was made by Jonathon Morrice of Newtown Renovations - who was also the lead contractor for the whole project - and is combined with a Victorian dresser that Katie sourced on eBay. In a grand townhouse that’s filled with period features, I love the fact that this dresser has a patina of age and feels as if it’s been here for a hundred years.
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Caption: When Katie and John bought this property three years ago, the townhouse had been in commercial use - most recently as offices for The Chartered Institute of Housing.
“We hadn’t considered a commercial property,” Katie admits, “but we couldn’t find anything that was quite right for us, and when we came to see this we fell in love with it immediately. The house just had a nice feel about it.”
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Caption: The couple embarked on a year-long refurbishment and redesign of the house - their first ever project - while juggling work and family.
“The previous owners had taken good care of the building, but we knew we’d have to do everything,” Katie says. “Whereas with other houses you’re never quite sure where to draw the line, here we had carte blanche; the house was hiding no secrets.
“The principal structural changes had already been made to the building in the 1950s and ’60s, so we were in the rare position of having a townhouse that had already been made suitable for open plan family living.
“The challenge for us, because it’s a conversion, was that we were held to the newest of building standards but within a Victorian townhouse."
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Caption: John embraced a hands-on role when stripping out the building at the start of the process, including removing all the old vinyl wallpaper – remember, this house stretches over four floors – in just one night.
There were three tonnes of carpet tiling and industrial venting all the way through the building. Even paring this house back to its bones was a mammoth task.
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Caption: The master suite takes up the
entire first floor.
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Caption: The en-suite includes this reconditioned Victorian bath.
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Caption: As Katie says: “We wanted a high quality of finish and materials that would endure. Being consistent with the finish was important to us.”
Some houses are about grand statements; others are about careful attention to detail. This townhouse marries both.
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Caption: ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY
SQUARE FOOT MEDIA
Caption: This house is now on the market with Strutt & Parker.
With thanks to Katie and John Donnelly.