84Hillside Vista
Inspired by the spectacular view and a raft of vintage architectural features, Jonathan Carter and Berni Garrihy have rescued a neglected but structurally sound 1970s property in Shropshire
An unloved 1970s property in Shropshire is rescued and transformed into a modern, energy-efficient home
When Jonathan Carter, a marketing director, and his wife Berni, a hospital doctor, walked into an unloved 1970s property in the Shropshire town of Bridgnorth, an idea began to take shape. Rather than build their own home, perhaps they could renovate to achieve the house of their dreams within their £200,000 construction budget?
Dozens of other house hunters had already seen and dismissed the property. The house hadn’t been refurbished or extended; it had lain empty for 18 months; and one of the dormers was leaking and a pigeon had taken up residence. Every aspect of the building needed work. But here was a generously proportioned, architect-designed home, with a tanked cellar, walk-in pantry, large terraced garden and lovely views over the hillside town. “It would have been criminal to knock the house down; it was actually pretty sound,” remembers Jonathan.
Before a single (vintage, small-format) tile was removed and renovation work started, the couple decided to live in the property for a year — as it turned out, a wise choice. “We very nearly didn’t move in, because the house was so grotty. Originally we thought: let’s just crack on,” says Jonathan. However, living in a house untouched since 1973 allowed the couple to familiarise themselves with the views, the light and the gardens (slowly revealed through tree-felling). It also showed how chilly the house could be over the winter months.
The experience did have its lighter moments. While the showers (gravity fed from the loft) were no more than a dribble and the toilets operated using a defunct 1970s siphonic system, it was, says Jonathan, “strangely liberating. If you needed to change something you could just get a saw and cut through the wall!”
The couple spent the year assiduously planning their project and buying tonnes of materials (all safely stored in the double garage). The brief for their architect, Clare Williamson of Cando Design, was clear: open plan living, a good connection with the outdoors, and a refurbished house that maximised the views.
Finding a main contractor was a little more challenging, however. “We’d had a year of planning and we knew what needed to be fixed. We started interviewing people and ended up with seven builders, but only one gave us a detailed quote.” Why was that? “Possibly because it was on a steep site and was an unusual project for the area, with its requirements for airtightness, MVHR (a mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system), and a high-end bathroom and kitchen,” he says. An industry-standard contract, with financial claw-backs for lateness, rather than a day rate, was also off-putting for some.
“It was frustrating — we thought adding a price premium would help, but still no one wanted to do it,” Jonathan says. Happily, the couple found local contractor KRM and the work could begin.
a fabric-first approach
The original footprint and roofing was retained, while a fourth bedroom was removed in the centre of the building to create a double-height void. This freed up space for an open plan kitchen, dining and living area, which is overlooked by a glazed mezzanine and flooded with light by a large triple-glazed curtain window. The entrance hall has been enlarged and simplified, allowing visitors to enjoy a through-view of the garden and hillside town beyond.
“Our architect Clare also encouraged us to think about the total lifetime costs of the building,” says Jonathan. For its time, the house was reasonably energy efficient: it had a SAP rating of 69, double glazing and filled cavity walls, although the cellular infill had rotted and was no longer effective.
The house was made more airtight by a combination of uninterrupted plasterwork and membranes taped to new triple glazed windows. “By mistake, the builders knocked the lights flush through the ceilings [which ruined the airtightness], so they had to do it all again at their time and expense,” recalls Jonathan. Meanwhile, 200mm of polystyrene external wall insulation (EWI) contributes to wind-tightness as well as keeping the house warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
As the ground floor was sitting on un-insulated suspended chipboard, family and friends helped the couple to dig 500mm down to replace the subfloor with a highly
insulated concrete pad that extends outdoors into a full-width terrace. Internally the pad is finished with stone-effect, large-format porcelain tiles that are hardwearing, slip-proof and easy to clean (the same tiles were also specified for the terrace).
value engineering
As the couple were working within a tight budget, value engineering was also high on the agenda. The proposed thickness of the EWI was changed three times before a financially acceptable option was agreed on, and in the kitchen Howden units were paired with Silestone worktops to create a high-end look at a modest price. A standard off-the-shelf softwood staircase was installed in the entrance hall, while porcelain tiles (ground floor) and Karndean luxury vinyl flooring (first floor) shaved hundreds of pounds off the original engineered timber flooring the couple had in mind.
Now that they are living in their new house, what do they enjoy most? “For us, the stand-out feature is the view — we were right to maximise it,” says Jonathan.
“A close second is the double-height ceiling. I am not a fan of modern rooms, with low ceilings. In our last 1970s house we couldn’t fix the ceilings, but by removing the fourth bedroom here, we’ve created a high ceiling in the kitchen diner, where we spent a lot of time. People said we were crazy to go from four to three bedrooms, but we haven’t done this for the money. And we are very pleased with the indoor/ outdoor feel — we feel very connected to the outdoors.”