The Fresh Locations library is vast, diverse and includes so many stunning location houses of every size and style, but one thing these homes seem to have in common is that they are all the product of very talented and creative minds.
These spaces tend to have been a labour of love - seldom something that was bought ‘off the peg’ and ready to move into. This is certainly true of one of our newest spaces, ‘Groveland’ in leafy Bromley, South East London. It’s fair to say that this Thirties semi has been absolutely gutted – all bar the original features – and carefully reconfigured by owners Lucy Alston and her partner David Sutton. Lucy is fashion stylist and blogger, the talented creative behind hip lifestyle blog, The Style Sponge (find her on Instagram here) ‘I called my blog The Style Sponge because I’m just a sponge for fashion, art, interiors, colour – everything lifestyle.’
Despite her incredible visual sense, she struggled a little when she first viewed this property, ‘We’ve always lived in Victorian and Edwardian homes as I wasn’t too keen on the Thirties look, it reminded me too much of my Granny and Grandpa’s home. And that is just what they found when they came to see this place – pure Grandma-chic with fussy wallpaper, frou-frou curtains and dubiously patterned lino and carpets. ‘David could see the potential but I found it harder to visualise at first’, admits Lucy with a laugh.
But in the end, she was seduced by the generous space and nicely proportioned square rooms and the couple moved in with their one year old daughter, Clemence, in the autumn of 2013. Work began straight away, with the family bravely living on site. They started at the front of the house and worked backwards, getting right down to the foundations, re-plumbing, re-wiring, re-plastering and laying a new parquet floor throughout. It is very hard to understate partner David’s role on this project. Despite having his own successful career in IT, ‘he has been the dynamo that has driven the whole thing’, From scouring the country to find the right materials at the best price, to bringing down cheaper builders from his home town of West Midlands, to actually doing as much of the labour as possible. ‘David was really keen to learn and acquire new skills on this project, and has worked so hard, even though he nearly lost a finger fitting the floor!’ Unusually the couple have remained on excellent terms with their builder, ‘we went to his wedding and he brought his daughter to Clemence’s birthday party,’ Lucy smiles. And the couple themselves make a great team. Lucy is the visionary and has a great eye for design while David is proactive and gets things done, ‘I’m the ideas generator but he is the practical one.’
Despite Lucy’s initial reservations about Thirties homes, the couple have tried to stay true to the spirit and proportions of the building whilst giving it a fresh, contemporary feel.
At the rear, they have incorporated a classic modern ‘glass box’ extension while the rooms at the front retain more of a period atmosphere. Although it was part of the plan from the start, the family enjoyed a break from the building work before summoning up the strength – and funds – to tackle the extension. Sure of what they wanted to achieve, they did the work without an architect, creating the plans in partnership with their builder, ‘it seemed the best option for the budget we had and it was pretty straightforward - as far as these things ever are!’ The couple wanted super-thin framed sliding windows but the prices were so expensive that again David scoured the UK until he found a supplier in Bognor Regis while he sourced the Siberian larch decking from a grower in Scotland.
It was a similar story with the kitchen, inspired by a gorgeous wood-and-white Australian kitchen that Lucy had spotted on Pinterest, they found a similar version through German manufacturer Rotpunkt which David headed off to West Midlands to source. They teamed this with a matt white quartz worktop, ‘we initially wanted marble but everyone warned us off it because staining is such an issue.’ They wanted the kitchen to be practical, stylish and as timeless as possible, ‘a seamless unfussy look’ so there are no handles on the cabinets and the same quartz is used for the splashbacks and the countertops.
The house is distinguished by its bold but considered use of colour ‘I’m fascinated by the way a colour can accentuate a space’ explains Lucy. The sleek and tactile furniture is punctuated by bold pieces in bright blues and sunny yellows. Lucy takes William Morris’s legendary ‘beautiful or useful’ design principle a step further, seeking out pieces for their stylish good looks but that are also functional and comfortable, ‘For me I don’t think something can be beautiful unless it has a purpose.’ Her style is a distinctive mix, ‘I love the Scandinavian Modern look but I like to mix it with a bit of Italian Maximalism, I love the work of Dimore Studios – they’ve inspired the round mirrors here, when you live in a square box you need some curves!’
Despite having used location houses throughout her fashion career, Lucy did not think about placing her house with a location agency until another friend in the business suggested it and friend who own Fresh Locations’ popular ‘Foxgrove’ location nearby, encouraged her to go for it.
Despite having thrived on the whole process, the family do not envisage moving house again any time soon and are simply enjoying their new life here, ‘now we’ve made our home so nice it’s wonderful to spend lots of time here as a family and with friends. Before we had Clemence we wanted to live in an area with lots of nice pubs and places to eat out, but now we love being at home. It sounds corny but at the end of the day we like nothing more than to have a glass of wine and sit and watch the sunset.’