London Woodland

The complete reordering of a large Edwardian detached house in south west London, including replanting its half-acre gardens and the selection of all furniture and art with the client.

The ground floor was opened up to provide a series of connected spaces for reading, sitting and eating. The main fireplace hearth was extended the length of the room in flamed Purbeck stone. [generous, informal]

A 10m-long stainless steel worktop made in one piece runs the length of the kitchen, linking service areas at the front to dining at the rear. A private study at the front has bespoke bookshelves in solid oak.

One shade of paint was used through the whole house. Oak joinery provides areas to sit through the house – generous window seats in the living rooms, benches in the kitchen and cloakroom, and an upstairs reading area.

On the upper floors, bedrooms are carpeted in soft grey wool, bathrooms are in polished plaster with unlacquered brass fittings, and the dressing room clad in untreated cedar.

Outside, the front garden was enclosed to provide an entrance forecourt. A side garden was walled to provide a quiet gravelled orchard, overlooked by a new loggia limewashed in red oxide, and by a cantilevered extension in brass and glass.

At the rear, the original wisteria-clad Edwardian loggia was retained, but the formal walled garden was replanted as if an extension of the nearby Common, with two lawn clearings and a table of solid Forest of Dean sandstone amongst the woodland.