PITCH PERFECT

An ambitious transformation saw JP Clark’s Surrey Hills house turn from overgrown wallflower to New England-style beauty

- JULIET BENNING

No strangers to the renovation game, JP Clark and his husband John had completed seven property projects before embarking on their eighth – an uninspiring detached house in the Surrey Hills. ‘We got together 22 years ago and had a plan from day one to end up in a detached house somewhere pretty with a view,’ says JP. He refers to this 1920s property as ‘the house that nobody wanted to buy’. But despite the four small bedrooms, lack of light and sloping hillside garden, the couple saw potential. ‘The only reason we bought it was because of the view. The house would have to be changed completely into something bigger and much more beautiful.’

I’M QUITE A PRIVATE CHEF AND I LIKE TO REMAIN SEPARATE FROM GUESTS WHILE COOKING, SO WE ATTACHED ONE END OF OUR ISLAND UNIT TO THE WALL, EFFECTIVELY CREATING A BARRIER

WE TRAVELLED TO CAPE COD. I TOOK MANY PHOTOS OF TINY ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS AND WE KNOCKED ON PEOPLE’S DOORS, ASKING IF WE COULD HAVE A LOOK AROUND THEIR HOMES