Extras Property Ladder: Richmond Unseen

Date Published:

20/06/2008

4Homes' Mark Love goes behind the scenes of Property Ladder to see what happens as the dust settles.

Even the weather doesn't like to get on the wrong side of Sarah Beeny it seems. After two days of almost continuous precipitation the skies above Richmond-upon-Thames suddenly turn brilliant azure, and wet pavements steam under welcome November sun. And all just in time for the Property Ladder crew to start lensing the latest instalment in the conversion of a Victorian terraced cottage on Princes Road.

For a long time the underachiever on a street of residential high flyers, this humble former artisan's cottage - the kind beloved by vaguely BoHo aspirational types - has been saved from dereliction, substantially rebuilt, and is now undergoing the last stages of a makeover ready for sale.

Of course, that makes the job sound a lot easier than it has been; there have been planning difficulties, and an earlier renovation added too much weight to the roof meaning that the front elevation of the property was bowing dangerously, and had to be rebuilt. And despite the property being all but derelict before its purchase there have been a minority of raised voices in this otherwise tight-knit conservation area concerned about how radical the refit would be.

They needn't have worried. Externally with its rebuilt front elevation the house differs little from those at either side - an aesthetic the developers were determined to respect in their third project in the area. Also the remedial work has secured the structural integrity of the neighbouring properties, and probably added a thousand or two to their worth in the process.

Expecting a Hollywood style movie set with catering wagons, lights, cranes, rigs and of course the star's powder pink winnebago, I was a trifle crest fallen to come across a single white van, and nothing but the sultry glimmer of a domestic lamp from within.

Inside, the house, a tastefully modernised two-bedroom just perfect for the young professional market, was a riot of protective polythene, cassette boxes, and camera hoohah, all rather working against the delicate styling details.

As a sequence is just about to be taped in the kitchen I am given the run of the first floor. And so with digital Box Brownie, I record some of the subtle Moroccan flavours being brought out in the conversion, while below stairs Sarah and her interviewees talk about the overspend in between interruptions from a busy Heathrow flight path.

The upstairs has been significantly remodelled to benefit from a redirected staircase, and now boasts a comfortable master bedroom with Moroccan-styled fitted wardrobe spaces and souk-lite trimmings, solid pine flooring, and a second multi-purpose room (opium den anyone?), plus more commodious storage, and a view over the rear courtyard.

Between the two bedrooms is a Jack and Jill bathroom, though far more contemporary and salubrious than the name suggests with a deep but squat bathtub/power shower, and a tastefully minimal throne. The surfaces, the fixtures and the finish here are the real signs of a quality conversion.