Dramatic transformation
Jackie and Rhod Finn have taken a dated seventies property and added some Miami-beachinspired design flair, turning it into a polished family home
Inspired by their travels to the US, Jackie and Rhod Finn have brought Miami Beach to Hampshire with their sleek modern renovation of a dated two-storey house
With a growing family and an urge to get their teeth into a building project, Jackie Finn and her husband Rhod had been looking for the right property to move to for two years. ey knew that they wanted to stay in the same area in Hampshire, and had been scouring local estate agents for many months, so when a good opportunity came along, they didn’t waste any time in trying to secure it. “Our offer was rejected,” says Jackie. “We were rather disappointed but decided to put our own home on the market and rent for a while.” It turned out to be a good move: the sale fell through of the house that they had missed out on. “is was just as we’d sold ours, so we approached the owners again,” says Jackie. “We were really lucky that we finally got it.”
e property they had bought was a long, boxy, two-storey structure built in 1971: in white-painted brick and with dated windows, it could be described as looking like a school science block. “But it had a really nice feel on the inside,” says Jackie. ey bought it from an elderly couple and it was structurally sound and liveable, although the decor was dated. “I’d always said that I didn’t want a property where the main garden was at the front, and of course, this house has the garden at the front!” says Jackie. A secluded location made them happier to compromise: “We liked the fact that it’s on a spur, off a main road, so the front garden wasn’t really an issue from a privacy perspective, and the layout and light entering the property were really good.”
e couple bought the house in September 2014 and the following spring asked local architecture practice Snug Architects – who had come via recommendation – to draw up some plans for their new home. e process of finalising the design, getting planning consent, putting the project out to tender and securing funding ended up taking another 18 months, and then work could finally begin.
Choosing the right team
Rhod works in Miami a lot so the couple often travel there, where they had admired the contemporary architecture. Could they transplant some of the ideas to Hampshire, they wondered? “Because we had lived in the house for a couple of years, I knew in my head how I wanted the layout to be; I could almost walk around the house and see it,” says Jackie. “What I needed from the architects was to provide the technical drawings, but also for them to use their artistic imagination and design skills to create things that I wouldn’t ever have thought of.”
Snug Architects delivered on this, proposing a projecting upper storey with glazed balcony, creating a much more visually interesting and dynamic look for the front of the property. e practice also suggested a soaring double-height hallway, glazed on both levels, to create a spacious and imposing first impression. Finally, the
architects’ idea for wide pocket doors to the downstairs kitchen, TV room and dining room has also worked out well, allowing the space to be flexible in how open-plan or closed-off the family want the layout to be. e whole property is clad in crisp white render, giving just the right degree of Miami Beach pizzazz for the location.
Jackie explains how, because her vision for the project was so clear and Rhod was away on business a lot, he was happy to let her drive
Because we had lived in the house for a couple of years, I knew in my head how I wanted the layout to be
the scheme – something that the builders appreciated as they were able to receive quick, definite responses to their questions. “ey were very pleased that I didn’t have to go away and discuss every decision with Rhod first!” says Jackie.
Getting started
e core team, MGS Building and Electrical Contractors, proved a winning combo when it came to executing the final design, and kept to schedule, too. “ey came recommended by friends, who found them when they were renovating their own house. eir original builder went bankrupt and left them in the lurch, but MGS swooped in and saved the day,” says Jackie. While the couple were
fairly certain they would engage MGS, they still put the job out to tender and received three quotes from other contractors; they were pleased to find that their preferred choice was competitively priced.
e process of drawing up final plans and getting them approved took 18 months, and then building works could commence. “We were starting off with an extension and a new garage, so we thought that we could save money by living in our house while they did it,” says Jackie. e builders blocked off half of the property in September 2016 and the family decided to move out in January of the following year. “e next day we went back to see it and found that they’d stripped the entire house back,” explains Jackie. “So in hindsight if we’d got out of their way sooner, it could have been a lot quicker. It was probably a false economy.”
e family found a bungalow to rent, which was going to be knocked down. e owner wanted to let it out on a short-term basis and, because of his own future building project, was pretty flexible
on their move out date. Works took a year, and the family were able to return to the property in September 2017.
Change for the better
e works have completely transformed the house both inside and out. “We have the same number of bedrooms because we put a utility room upstairs instead of an extra room,” says Jackie. “We also knocked through what was the guest ensuite, my son’s old room and the office to make a large family bathroom and another bedroom. at would have given us one less bedroom, but then we built a new master suite on top of the old garage.”
A new office and gym space were put where the garage was originally located, while the rest of the ground floor has been reconfigured and extended to make a WC, games room, dining/ drawing room and kitchen. “With three boys playing rugby, our new separate boot room is essential, and what I like about it is that we have a back staircase, which takes you straight into the utility room on the first floor. I wanted this upstairs because I’ve always thought that the only thing you launder from downstairs are the tea towels, so what’s the point in lugging everything else through the house, just to turn around and take it all back up again?”
e bright, double-height entrance hall is a complete change from the dated space the family had lived in for nearly four years, showing how far the house has come. Jackie says: “We’re really happy with the way it’s turned out. It’s exactly as I imagined it... well, better actually.”