A modern slant

After buying an east London Victorian terrace, one couple decided to extend it outwards and upwards to make it fit for 21st-century living

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Emily and her partner Jack had ideas for a rear extension as soon as they viewed their east London Victorian terrace. In fact, they sketched out some initial ideas on the back of a pub menu straight after they had visited the property, which is located on the border between Waltham Forest and Newham.

The house needed extensive renovation work, but that didn't put them offas they were looking for a project, plus it had a 30 metre-long south-facing garden. "It actually had ahuge amount of space, lovely high ceilings and still had a lot of the original features, which really appealed to us," says Emily. "There had been lots of people living there previously and little work had been done lately, so it needed a facelift," adds Jack.

GETTING TO WORK

The couple received the keys to their new home at the start of 2021 and moved in straight away. They did alot of work in the first year to make the home liveable- removing carpets, stripping multiple layers of wallpaper, ripping out a very old jacuzzi bath and painting, while plans were drawn up for the rear extension as well as a loft conversion to add two additional bedrooms and a shower room.

"We also had to take out a leaking shower that the previous owners had remarkably installed into the downstairs hallway which was causing a damp problem," explains Emily. "To top it all, the roof started leaking in the final weeks before we moved out for the build, so the construction work started just in time. However, having a whole year in the house really gave us a good sense of the space and an understanding of how light moves around the building. This really helped to inform us about what we wanted from the new design."