A contrarian masterpiece

This Hackney couple ripped up the rulebook in their bold transformation of a gloomy terraced house. The result is extraordinary, says Anna White

- Anna White

It is rare that Londoners reduce the number of rooms in a house during a renovation, but that is exactly what Rose Aldenton and Daniel Roper did to create their future family home, sacrificing a sitting room to improve the quality of their space.

The new heart of their east London home is not the kitchen. It’s the impressive library spanning two floors in a light-filled, double height space where Christopher Robin-inspired stairs double as seating.

This renovation is far from the typical rear and side return extension of a Victorian terrace. Period features were replaced with dark fumed oak joinery and rubber flooring in this mid-century-style contrarian masterpiece in the centre of Hackney.

FINDING THEIR PERFECT ‘PIT’

Right at the outset, Aldenton and Roper’s approach was different. Rather than looking for their dream first home, the couple trudged road after road putting pleading notes through the letterboxes of the most rundown properties.

To buy within the postcode where they were already living, albeit separately — between Lower Clapton and Hackney Marshes — they needed to find the cheapest possible house, pre-renovated and unloved.

“We didn’t find what we wanted on Rightmove. Everything we saw was that combination of expensive and in need of work,” says Aldenton, a consultant specialising in helping small businesses. “Then we walked past an estate agent sign outside an absolute pit,” she says.