“We had seen and loved architect Paul Testa’s work and he was based in our home city, so was a natural choice”
to discover a large garden hidden away behind the property.
“The size of the garden sold it to me in an instant. I put in an offer straight away,” says Suzanne. “David hadn’t even seen it and I hadn’t seen inside. We didn’t go to look around properly until the offer was accepted.”
REFURB & REMOVAL CHALLENGES Their first impressions were that the bungalow was extremely ‘tired’. The roof was clearly bowing, and they knew it would have to be replaced. The kitchen was tiny and dated, and the property felt cold and damp throughout. Some of the windows and doors were rotting and everything looked ‘brown’. The large garden, however, sealed the deal – a transformation was possible. “We agreed that we could live in the bungalow while we got planning permission to do it up,” says Suzanne. “We were excited by the possibilities, and knew it would be short term pain for long term gain.” The first hitch came when a couple of offers on their own house fell through and they took a £15,000 reduction on the asking price in order to move things along. Fortunately they were able to negotiate a reduction on the bungalow, finally agreeing on £435,000. The money, however, was not transferred until the eleventh hour on completion day in October 2018, and the keys were not handed over until the following day. “The removal men had been waiting outside to unload while we were frantically trying to finalise the completion. Then there was a mad panic with all hands on deck to get the furniture out of the van and into the house so
jan/feb 2023
they could move on to their next job. It was all very stressful.”
They also faced the challenge of trying to fit everything into a smaller house which, at that point, had three bedrooms and much smaller rooms.
DESIGN OBJECTIONS
One of the first things we did in those first few days was contact architect Paul Testa,” says Suzanne. “We had seen and loved his work, and he was also based in our home city of Sheffield, so for us he was a natural choice.” Within weeks they had the ball rolling on their
proposed design, which included an extension across the back of the house, a second storey with glazed roof panels, and wooden shingles on the exterior. Sheffield City Council’s planning department objected to everything, based largely on concerns from neighbours who said the proposed house was too large and out of keeping with the area.
“It was hugely disappointing,” says Suzanne. “By this time the roof was getting considerably worse, creating so much pressure that it was pushing the walls out and there was a massive gap developing around the patio doors. There was also a crack around the bay window in the girls’ room, and mould was coming through the walls.”
They sought advice from a structural engineer who said there were no guarantees that the roof would hold up for much longer. “We were under pressure to get things moving pretty quickly,” says Suzanne. We needed to come up with a plan which couldn’t be refused.”
www.sbhonline.co.uk 17
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