“I have vivid memories of sitting upstairs with Richard and talking it through. It really was pretty filthy back then, and we were sat on a rickety old sofa looking at how everything was falling apart. I said it would be a project for a good long while for us, so what we wanted to get right was the finish. We wanted it to feel robust and solid, with space and light maximised as much as possible.
“No one knew what an undertaking that would be. The house was pulling away front and back, so we had to replace all the joists, lay a new concrete slab and reinforce the stairs. It was stressful at times but I thought the worst thing would be to spend all that money and not get it right, so we really committed.
“Sorting out the structure – work that is completely invisible now – gave us the foundation to create a single level on which to build a new infill extension, where the kitchen-diner is. It’s a north-facing space, but you would never know it with how much daylight comes in. Robin especially craves the light, and coming from the loft space, where we had three-metre-high windows, we were so thrilled to find that sense of airiness here.
“The kitchen floor runs out seamlessly to the garden and then forms a desk in the music studio we built. We never imagined it to be so beautiful; my original sketch was more like a wooden shed! But Richard really pushed the boundaries, and it’s created this warm, lovely space that looks especially beautiful at night when it’s lit up.
