Browsing Tag

renovation

Spaces

WESTER RIGGS

12th December 2014

“Even from outside, we loved it,” Lisa McMyn says as she recalls her first impression of this Victorian house in Lasswade in Midlothian, which she viewed with her husband Neil back in 2007. The couple were leaping in at the deep end when they bought this property. Lisa and Neil had been living in Sydney for five years, and they initially offered on the four bedroom house while still in Australia, having only seen photos. When they eventually travelled to Scotland to view Wester Riggs a month later they realised that the house required a lot more work than they’d anticipated. Continue Reading…

Spaces

HAWTHORN VILLA

10th September 2014

Kirsten Dunlop initially spotted Hawthorn Villa by chance while viewing a neighbouring house. “When I saw this place, I said, ‘I really like that property,’” she recalls. Hawthorn Villa is located off Ferry Road in Edinburgh’s Trinity area, but while Ferry Road is a busy thoroughfare, this property is actually tucked along a private lane, and is set well way back from the road itself.  “When you’re out in the back garden, you really could be in the country, and the rooms at the front of the house look out onto trees,” Kirsten says. “It’s really calm.” Continue Reading…

Spaces

THE WATER TOWER

9th July 2014

I’ve featured a few live/work spaces so far on the Files with properties such as The Workshop and Slip House – both highly individual family homes designed by their architect owners to accommodate a studio space for their respective practices. Ten years ago, would live/work spaces have been quite so prevalent? I doubt it. Technological advances have transformed our ability to work from home after all, so more people are in turn looking for homes that offer an integrated studio or office space.

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Spaces

ONE ROYAL CIRCUS

18th June 2014

I first visited One Royal Circus in Edinburgh maybe thirteen years ago to write about it for The Observer. You know how some houses make such a strong impression that you will never forget them? Well, this is one of those houses. This was before number One opened its doors to its bevy of A-list guests; before Ewan McGregor called it “a fabulous house” and before David Walliams referred to this A listed Georgian townhouse as being “the loveliest house I’ve stayed in.” Continue Reading…

Spaces

ST. JOHNS AVENUE: PART 1

13th June 2014

What do you do when you come across a house where the interior photos are so good that you want to use them all? There are simply too many great images being missed out. One way round this is to write two posts, which explains the headline as this selection represents Part 1 of this smashingly good interior in London.

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Architecture

VILLA CP

10th June 2014

There’s so much to admire about this building, where do you start? For me, there are two key images here: the bottom photo, showing Villa CP within its wider context with the views out over the surrounding landscape and the pool, and the image below, which highlights the combination of old and new that defined ZEST Architecture’s vision for this project as the Corten steel frames of the windows and the entrance offer a crisp contrast against the old stone walls. Stunning, right? Continue Reading…