“I always said I didn’t want to buy a Victorian terrace–as lovely as they are, they all start blending into one,” declares Lucy Williams, as she stands in her west London house. Whilst it appears, externally, that she has conceded, you certainly couldn't say that this house blends into all the others of its kind. While the layout is familiar enough–the narrow hallway, the sitting room at the front, the kitchen extension at the back– the charm lies in the curation. The flooring has been reclaimed, the tiles sourced and furnishings found at auctions and markets, all by Lucy. The result is an imaginative, considered house, born of the mind of a digital creative for whom style is second nature.
Lucy, together with her husband Ruaraidh and dog Finn, decided she needed a change of pace from their old flat – a “cavernous” two bedroom just five minutes down the road – in late 2020. After a thorough hunt, and a lot of corona-virus-related setbacks, they finally stumbled upon a house that felt right. It had been well looked after by the previous owner, but still required a lot of work. In this, it was ideal for Lucy who “wanted to find a project that hadn’t been touched for forty, fifty years.”
Working alongside Chantal at Flower Michelin Architects, she set about “finding the line between not making a museum of the house” and bringing it firmly into the contemporary landscape, blending new elements with old seamlessly. The kitchen was the first focus and, learning on the job, Lucy found herself surprised by the order things needed to happen in. As she explains, “you think you need to do windows, but then you're thinking about paint and the paint needs to work with the floors…it’s like Jenga, you take one thing out and suddenly the whole thing collapses.”
So where do you focus when you need one eye on all things at once? The much loved household pet naturally. “In the kitchen, I didn’t want to do banquette seating for the dining table, but I really wanted something squishy to sit on and I’ve always had a real soft spot for window seats. It’s not the most practical choice,” she pauses, “but the dog likes to be on a human level, so he needed somewhere to sit.” As such, she found the starting point for the kitchen and renovation as a whole, building out and around from the window seat.
Finn’s spot is framed by large windows that lead out onto a generous, south facing garden–one of the features that initially drew the couple to the house. “Outside space that genuinely feels private is a real rarity in London," Lucy says, acknowledging her luck. As such, making the most of it was crucial. It had good bones, but “roping in” Butter Wakefield to overhaul it seemed the best way forward. The duo worked towards the brief of a “mini English country garden," planting alliums and aquilegia in abundance to create a rambling urban idyll. Perhaps by design, the garden can be seen from all of the ground floor rooms in a way that seems the whole house is celebrating the outdoors.
“I really wanted something squishy to sit on and I’ve always had a real soft spot for window seats” ― Lucy Williams
The overall feel of the house is practical and comfortable, a place where “people can put their feet up and not be too precious". Lucy was careful to consider how she and her partner “genuinely live, rather than [building for] a fantasy life that’s much chicer than [they] actually are.” The brilliant blue living room features an enormous orange Maker & Son sofa, perfect for the self-confessed TV lovers. The kitchen is ideal for entertaining. In only one room did Lucy allow herself a “fantasy”: the second reception room that bridges the gap between kitchen and living room. Here, opposite the travertine fireplace, in two sheepskin covered antique chairs, Lucy imagines herself with an evening glass of whiskey.
Lucy names as inspiration the Copenhagen home of Ganni founders Ditte and Nicolaj Reffstrup, as well as California-based design studio Reath Design, and these twin ideas of California and Scandinavia are woven throughout the house. The main bedroom and bathroom, for example, have a distinct feel of the west coast, while other rooms, such as the spare bathroom and room in the attic, are bold explosions of patterns and print, reminiscent of Beata Heuman's signature style.
The generous main bedroom is a relaxed space, with an enormous, waved ("not scalloped") headboard that serves as the focal point of the room. To the left of the bed, a framed menu, from Osip in Bruton where the couple had dinner the weekend they got engaged, hangs on the wall. Though in general Lucy wanted to “avoid building in too much storage and find really great freestanding pieces instead,” here she has designed a vast wardrobe that spans the width of the bedroom. With neutral colours and subtle patterns, the bedroom and its adjoining bathroom form a serene foil to the busier decoration in the living room below.
Though Lucy jokes she is already on RightMove, this house is neither a one-off project, nor a forever home. Instead it is an adaptable space that suits just where the couple are at present. She concludes, “everything has been done for where we are now”–and there’s a magic in that.
This story originally appeared on House & Garden UK.
