Looking To The Future

Irem and Raj Patel made some radical decisions to update this Victorian semi for their needs now, but also with the next generation in mind

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Front living room

‘The previous owner had knocked through to create a cavernous open-plan space, but it was too big,’ says Irem. ‘We added glazed doors to create two spaces that still let the light flow. The style in here is “romantic Victorian” – it’s relaxed and indulgent.’

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Steel-framed doors, from £8,000, Govette Windows

When Irem first went to view her house, in 2011, no one answered the door, because the other agent had thought they’d sold it. It was only when, a few months later, her husband Raj reminded Irem about a missed call that she phoned the estate agent back and discovered the house was still available. It had been owned by an elderly builder who had lived there for 30 years and converted it from flats into a family home. ‘It was quite dated, so we ripped out the false ceilings that were filled with asbestos, stripped the floors and rejigged the layout on the first floor,’ she recalls. ‘The kitchen was very dingy, with floor-to-ceiling cork tiles, so we gave that a spruce-up, too.’

But even after its revamp, the kitchen, with its small uPVC window, was very dark. ‘We’d eat down there most nights, in the least beautiful bit of the house,’ says Irem. So in 2017, the couple decided to extend it by 2.5m. ‘We wanted it to be a place we’d be happy to spend most of our time in, where we could look out onto the garden. Now it’s a great space for a family with teenagers – we can come together when we want to, or they can disappear off and do their own thing,’ says Irem.