As shortly as this pair stepped inside of this Arts and Crafts home in London’s leafy Muswell Hill, it was love at to start with sight. “We understood instantaneously that it was a extremely distinctive dwelling,” reveal the duo—a pair of creatives with two children and beloved canine. “It experienced such excellent vibes and anything about it felt quite acquainted to us. All the primary features had been however intact, which include the stunning tiled hallway, classy cornices, and stunning fireplaces…. It hadn’t been touched for a extensive time.”
The couple called upon Ross and Emma Perkin of Emil Eve Architects following slipping for the practice’s clean up still characterful fashion, as very well as the pair’s sensitive and imaginative solution to mixing old and new. As for the residence, it wasn’t just the interval details that the Emil Eve shoppers uncovered alluring: “The width of the property was also uncommon we’d been hunting at Victorian terraces that were much narrower, but the proportions of these Edwardian Collins homes was extremely interesting,” the couple explains. “Despite its spaciousness, it had a pretty cozy and cottagey truly feel.”
The house’s exciting backstory, even so, went well over and above architectural categorization. The dwelling was previously owned by the artist and teacher Maurice de Sausmarez (who taught the likes of artist Bridget Riley and inventor James Dyson) and his wife, a colorist in her have correct, who remained in the residence right until the pair acquired it in 2018. They had left their stamp on the home too, thanks in section to a lovely constructed-in kitchen dresser—now painted pink by the new proprietors. A pastel drawing of the kitchen area by Sausmarez sits following to the unique dresser, marking the background of the dwelling.
“We required the home to be modernized, but without the need of compromising the initial attributes or amazing environment,” add the homeowners. “Nor did we want a generic glass box trapped on the back, or for the property to come to feel too “done up.” Even so, it was essential to open up up the kitchen and eating home to accommodate all the kids, close friends and family members that we like coming in and out of our property. So we were on the lookout for an architect who truly recognized our love of time period aspects as properly as our want for place. We’re also avid collectors, so we needed clever techniques to retail store and display screen these merchandise.”
Emma Perkin provides: “For this undertaking we wished to draw straight on Arts and Crafts aesthetics as effectively as the worth that the motion placed on craft, materiality and thoughtful awareness to element.” The designer was particularly impressed by William Morris’s Purple Dwelling, a important Arts and Craft house positioned in southeast London. “Our favorite component is the mezzanine degree in the loft—it seems to be modern but is based mostly on the historic Crimson House’s settle, which is an outstanding piece of home furniture combining a bench, screen cupboard and a raised platform accessed by a ladder,” Emma notes. “We love how this reimagined framework enabled us to conceal a toilet and large storage parts driving its wonderful solid ash paneling, as properly as a hidden staircase that prospects you up to a top secret window with sights out towards Alexandra Palace.”
Just as equipment-dominated creation was eschewed in favor of craftsmanship and individuality through the Arts and Crafts motion, the new timber-lined extension speaks the exact same language. The Perkinses selected oak and handmade terra-cotta tiles, the two elements typical of the Arts and Crafts era, but reinterpreted with contemporary crisp detailing. All through the residence, walls and delicate furnishings are adorned in basic William Morris prints, blended with modern patterns by Molly Mahon, Ottoline, CommonRoom, Svenskt Tenn and Property of Hackney, with motifs of flora and fauna tying the historic and modern-day prints together.
“The finish result is a very satisfying combine of previous and new,” the entrepreneurs reflect. “The leading floor feels a lot more fresh new and modern day, although the relaxation of the house encapsulates the past and you can experience the historical past in it. We love that each individual room has its have id and that the whole spot doesn’t feel far too ‘done’. It is this kind of a cozy put to be and we continue to pinch ourselves that we live here.”
