A Gracious London Terrace House Is Reborn with Salvaged Materials
The renovation of this five-story terrace house in London's Primrose Hill neighborhood aimed to restore the building to its former grandeur. The staircase had been boxed in on the upper levels, so the entrance hall had lost its sense of soaring space.
Its occupants had initially lived in the downstairs two apartments, and eventually the upper part of the building. Today, it houses a family of five, as well as the owner’s office from which he runs a men’s apparel label, Dashing Tweeds.
Focusing on the building’s public areas, design firm Retrouvius extensively remodeled and opened up the entrance hall and living spaces, and installed a new staircase. The company specializes in salvaged materials and used them throughout this project—particularly the flooring, doors, and fittings—to keep the basic elements of the interior harmonious with the original architecture.
A new, wider staircase replaced the original Victorian version, and links the public and living areas; and the kitchen and the subterranean basement office.
Much of the salvaged materials in the house came from the National Museum of Scotland, and their zoological origins have been picked up in the wallpaper created by Danile Heath, which features drawings of birds being stuffed for display.
The décor was deliberately kept unfussy, down to the cool green French chairs. The patterned chair is upholstered in one of the client’s own distinctive tweed designs.
Salvaged oak parquet flooring was used throughout, laid in a Mondrian-esque grid pattern, rather than the traditional herringbone arrangement. Left with its original patina intact, it lends warmth to the area.
The space was extended on the garden side to create a summer dining room. The cement-tile floor extends out to the garden terrace, so with the doors pulled back, the room becomes part of the garden. An inherited Murano chandelier, Murano glass wall lights, and colored, patterned glass panels salvaged from a church soften the otherwise stark modern space.
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