GOING THE DISTANCE
Although living in Singapore, Melinda and Chris Swann took a leap of faith when they purchased an old English vicarage and oversaw its renovation from afar
Looking for a home and a major project to keep her busy, Melinda Swann thought she’d struck gold when she found an old brick and flint vicarage. ‘It was a handsome house from the outside, but inside it was unloved,’ she says. ‘It was freezing cold and draughty, but it had potential.’ The only snag was that it was in Oxfordshire, 7,000 miles away from Singapore where Melinda and her husband, Chris, were based.
Having sold her own business in the pharmaceutical sector, and with the couple due to return to the UK in a year’s time, Melinda decided the vicarage would make the perfect renovation project, even though she would have to manage the work from the other side of the world. One thing that was clear from the start was that the layout needed a rethink. ‘The configuration wasn’t ideal,’ says Melinda. ‘Rooms had been subdivided here and there and, although it was sold as a nine-bedroom house, there were only two bathrooms. We needed to tackle the heating and insulation too, as the tenant who had been living there told us she had to put extra clothes on to go to bed!’
The Swanns were keen to make the vicarage an environmentally friendly home, so specified air source heat pumps. To ensure the house stayed warm, Thermalite linings were used for the walls and floor. ‘We wanted to put in double
glazing too, but to do it sympathetically,’ says Melinda. Next to the vicarage was a single-storey building where the vicar had run a school and Melinda wanted to incorporate this into the new layout, keeping as many of the original features as possible. A contemporary glass-box extension now links the two buildings, providing a striking covered walkway between the spaces. ‘The Victorian foundations were somewhat lacking, so we had to dig down. It was a big project, and took a year in total,’ says Melinda. ‘We were still out in Singapore, so I was project-managing a team of 12 builders, plus specialist tradespeople, using email and video calls to see what the issues were.’
A new kitchen was fitted, together with five new bathrooms and a sweeping staircase. Melinda also wanted to introduce more light, so planning permission was needed for extra windows. The chimneys, which had gradually diminished in size over the years, were also restored to their original height using old photographs as a guide.
The couple moved back to the UK for the last three months of the project. ‘Just in time for all the nice finishing touches – the wallpaper, paint colours and carpets,’ says Melinda. To help with the decoration, Melinda had gathered some furnishings and accessories on her travels around the world. ‘When we were in India, I found the most fantastic hand-embroidered cotton curtains, which I’ve used in two of the bedrooms. After I came back, I saw a similar design at William Yeoward and was so happy that I had got them at a fraction of the price!’
Melinda is rightly proud of her beautifully renovated home, with its eco features and striking furnishings. ‘I chose all the decor myself. I had no interior designer and I’m so pleased with how it’s turned out,’ she says. ‘Above all, I didn’t want it to look old-fashioned – more classic with a modern twist, so if the Victorian vicar walked back in after all these years, it would be nice to think he’d still recognise his not so humble abode.’