This time next year (Peckham townhouse renovation)
Discussion
Three years ago I started my build thread on a studio renovation in Chamonix, which is now for sale. Now I'm starting something on a bigger scale. We completed on an early Victorian four-storey townhouse in Peckham last week. The property has only had three owners since it was built in 1843 and the last owners were an artist family who used the lower two floors as studio space. The whole place needs substantial renovation which is why it appealed to me.
Here's how it's presented in the agent's brochure.
The plan is to create a potential 'forever home' and continue the house's tradition of long family ownership. The property had a lot going for it (location, value, potential etc) so we stretched ourselves financially when it came to buying it. As a consequence the renovation budget is fair, but less than I'd like to be working with for something of this scope. Buoyed by the success of the Chamonix renovation I'm taking on design and PM duties again, supplemented with a professional designer and project manager, Jeff. He's mostly there to sanity check my design, polish it for technical presentation and to fill in the substantial gaps in my technical knowledge. This is clearly on a much bigger scale than my last project and definitely requires some more professional help. This time around I've no interest in doing the heavy lifting. I'll leave that to the pros and concentrate on the bigger stuff where I can actually add value.
A planning application was submitted in July and I'm expecting a response on that at the end of next week. The design includes a modest and, I hope, uncontroversial rear extension to the lower ground floor only. I've deliberately played that very safe to minimise the chance of planning hiccups. A tender pack went out to three contractors at the start of the week and, all being well with planning, party wall notices will be sent next week. If those go through without issue then we could begin work in November. If there are any disputes then it will probably run into December. I'm told the work will take 6 months (26 weeks) but I'm braced for more like 9 months. All said and done I hope to be moving in by 'This time next year (Rodders)'. We're living in a rental while the work takes place so I'm keen to finish as efficiently as possible. Not just for financial reasons but mostly because the rental doesn't have a dishwasher and I hate washing up.
Here's a snapshot of the plans:
Level 0
I work from home and my wife also spends many hours in the evenings and at weekends working from the kitchen table. The new layout includes a substantial office space that will work for 4-5 people (should I expand my freelance design work into something larger) and will double as my man cave. I cycle a bit and there'll be an area of the office dedicated to this, with my bikes displayed appropriately. This arrangement also keeps the lower ground floor as the 'engine' of the house, separating the office from the home as much as possible.
The rest of the floor is extended to give a large kitchen and dining area, with a dedicated larder, a small bathroom and a little snug tucked in the back corner. The rear is a 3-panel sliding door arrangement and there's a skylight above the dining area. The layout of the kitchen itself is just a placeholder arrangement. I'll be working on that in the future.
The whole floor currently has low ceilings, at around 2.2m. I'm planning to excavate down to take that to somewhere between 2.4-3.0m, depending on costs. The structural engineer seems happy with that and we've dug two inspection pits last week to see where and what the foundations are like. Those reports are due shortly but the current floor is suspended, around 700mm above the foundations.
Level 1
This level gets a dedicated utility room at the rear and two large reception rooms: one for adults and one more for kids. We'll keep some of the period features like the two fireplaces and the decorative ceilings and covings, all of which need a lot of TLC. The kid-friendly reception will double as a library, with storage up to 1m height and then shelves and displays above.
Level 2
The bedroom level. One family bathroom in the centre with two double rooms and a single. One of the doubles will have an en-suite. We haven't started a family yet but when we do we expect to need some help from a nanny/au pair/night nanny as both of us have relentless work schedules. This is why one of the doubles has an en-suite. The 'baby's room' is offset from our own sleeping area on the next floor, which I hope will help with sleep.
Level 3
A master suite with a bedroom, bathroom, seating/reading/TV area and a large dressing room. Currently the ceiling height is around 2.1m but I'm removing the ceiling completely, redoing the roof, to open up a lot of height. At the ridge line the ceiling height will be 4.1m, with exposed beams.
Here's how it's presented in the agent's brochure.
The plan is to create a potential 'forever home' and continue the house's tradition of long family ownership. The property had a lot going for it (location, value, potential etc) so we stretched ourselves financially when it came to buying it. As a consequence the renovation budget is fair, but less than I'd like to be working with for something of this scope. Buoyed by the success of the Chamonix renovation I'm taking on design and PM duties again, supplemented with a professional designer and project manager, Jeff. He's mostly there to sanity check my design, polish it for technical presentation and to fill in the substantial gaps in my technical knowledge. This is clearly on a much bigger scale than my last project and definitely requires some more professional help. This time around I've no interest in doing the heavy lifting. I'll leave that to the pros and concentrate on the bigger stuff where I can actually add value.
A planning application was submitted in July and I'm expecting a response on that at the end of next week. The design includes a modest and, I hope, uncontroversial rear extension to the lower ground floor only. I've deliberately played that very safe to minimise the chance of planning hiccups. A tender pack went out to three contractors at the start of the week and, all being well with planning, party wall notices will be sent next week. If those go through without issue then we could begin work in November. If there are any disputes then it will probably run into December. I'm told the work will take 6 months (26 weeks) but I'm braced for more like 9 months. All said and done I hope to be moving in by 'This time next year (Rodders)'. We're living in a rental while the work takes place so I'm keen to finish as efficiently as possible. Not just for financial reasons but mostly because the rental doesn't have a dishwasher and I hate washing up.
Here's a snapshot of the plans:
Level 0
I work from home and my wife also spends many hours in the evenings and at weekends working from the kitchen table. The new layout includes a substantial office space that will work for 4-5 people (should I expand my freelance design work into something larger) and will double as my man cave. I cycle a bit and there'll be an area of the office dedicated to this, with my bikes displayed appropriately. This arrangement also keeps the lower ground floor as the 'engine' of the house, separating the office from the home as much as possible.
The rest of the floor is extended to give a large kitchen and dining area, with a dedicated larder, a small bathroom and a little snug tucked in the back corner. The rear is a 3-panel sliding door arrangement and there's a skylight above the dining area. The layout of the kitchen itself is just a placeholder arrangement. I'll be working on that in the future.
The whole floor currently has low ceilings, at around 2.2m. I'm planning to excavate down to take that to somewhere between 2.4-3.0m, depending on costs. The structural engineer seems happy with that and we've dug two inspection pits last week to see where and what the foundations are like. Those reports are due shortly but the current floor is suspended, around 700mm above the foundations.
Level 1
This level gets a dedicated utility room at the rear and two large reception rooms: one for adults and one more for kids. We'll keep some of the period features like the two fireplaces and the decorative ceilings and covings, all of which need a lot of TLC. The kid-friendly reception will double as a library, with storage up to 1m height and then shelves and displays above.
Level 2
The bedroom level. One family bathroom in the centre with two double rooms and a single. One of the doubles will have an en-suite. We haven't started a family yet but when we do we expect to need some help from a nanny/au pair/night nanny as both of us have relentless work schedules. This is why one of the doubles has an en-suite. The 'baby's room' is offset from our own sleeping area on the next floor, which I hope will help with sleep.
Level 3
A master suite with a bedroom, bathroom, seating/reading/TV area and a large dressing room. Currently the ceiling height is around 2.1m but I'm removing the ceiling completely, redoing the roof, to open up a lot of height. At the ridge line the ceiling height will be 4.1m, with exposed beams.
Moominho said:
Stunning! And great location too (although whenever I think of Peckham, I think of Desmond's). I will be following with interest...
Indeed. Bookmarked.When ever I hear Peckham I always think back to this CTUSM - The Taking Of Peckham 123
It seems Peckham has been taken.
Bookmarked, after the great thread on your chamonix studio.
One thought about the babies room, have you considered that you may not want to leave your baby on another floor from the one you are sleeping on initially? We had twins which was different (another story!), but i know my wife was alway reluctanct to sleep on a separate floor to the boys in the early days. We have since moved into the top floor suite that we designed in our new build, but it lay empty for a couple of years until the 'mothers bond' was strong enough to move!!
Maybe I just have an over protective mother as my wife!!
Good luck with the renovation, it looks a great project and I will be watching with interest and willing you on.
James
One thought about the babies room, have you considered that you may not want to leave your baby on another floor from the one you are sleeping on initially? We had twins which was different (another story!), but i know my wife was alway reluctanct to sleep on a separate floor to the boys in the early days. We have since moved into the top floor suite that we designed in our new build, but it lay empty for a couple of years until the 'mothers bond' was strong enough to move!!
Maybe I just have an over protective mother as my wife!!
Good luck with the renovation, it looks a great project and I will be watching with interest and willing you on.
James
Looks fabulous - following with interest.jeremyc said:
Not enough car parking. 
There's always a compromise and this, sadly, was the big one. No garage. Not even a driveway. In fairness though, Central London living sucked all the joy out of motoring for me and cycling has filled that gap. I guess I have changed. I always thought we'd end up moving further out and deferred my petrolhead plans for the time I'd have plentiful storage, empty lanes and no congestion charge. I'll have to rethink that now but, in the meantime, on the plus side; you can buy a kickass superbike for less than the cost of a cheap city car. Yes. Interesting to hear another house on the street has/had long time owners. I wonder if it's a common theme. If so it could be a blessing and a curse. Great for a sense of community but could also come with resistance to change.
One of our immediate neighbours contacted my designer while I was away to complain that he'd not been made aware of our planning application. He didn't want to accept that it's the responsibility of the planning office to notify him rather than us. I suspect the local vulture firms had acted quicker than the council and given him scare stories to sell their services. I've tried to reach out to him but haven't had a response yet. Hopefully he'll come around. It'll make the job much smoother but I'd also like to get on with neighbours as we plan to be there for the foreseeable future.
One of our immediate neighbours contacted my designer while I was away to complain that he'd not been made aware of our planning application. He didn't want to accept that it's the responsibility of the planning office to notify him rather than us. I suspect the local vulture firms had acted quicker than the council and given him scare stories to sell their services. I've tried to reach out to him but haven't had a response yet. Hopefully he'll come around. It'll make the job much smoother but I'd also like to get on with neighbours as we plan to be there for the foreseeable future.
Been looking forward to this thread! We are in the final stages of the full renovation of a house in Streatham - similar size, but not as interesting as yours. I would have loved a Victorian house, but we fell for a 30's house due to the street and location. Peckham is a great area to buy, and will carry on rising in value/amenities.
I have been posting on my thread sporadically - will do more as things start to look more interesting. If you would like a benchmark of how much things cost us, to keep a sense check on London prices, I'd be happy to share my geeky renovation spreadsheet with you. Just PM me. Total cost of a 2900 square foot renovation including loft has been around £200k. High. But not insane, spec. Almost Everything new except walls and roof.
Best of luck and please keep posting!
I have been posting on my thread sporadically - will do more as things start to look more interesting. If you would like a benchmark of how much things cost us, to keep a sense check on London prices, I'd be happy to share my geeky renovation spreadsheet with you. Just PM me. Total cost of a 2900 square foot renovation including loft has been around £200k. High. But not insane, spec. Almost Everything new except walls and roof.
Best of luck and please keep posting!
Gruffy said:
That only dawned on me last week when I started researching the history of the house. Several local streets were named in honour of various lords, including Lord Lyndhurst.
it'll be after Nicolas.Edited by Gruffy on Wednesday 21st September 22:18
I think he had a minor acting role in a small TV series about Peckham. its not widely known about.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff