fireplaces in the house, ordering new marble bullseye surrounds from Italy, well in advance. We had the ues opened before the spike in oil prices,” says Francois. “But we’d had a bit of damp originally and our specialist said it was due to lack of ventilation. These houses were not designed to be energy efficient, but to breathe. The previous extension didn’t allow air to circulate. Now, the damp is gone.” With a new water tank moved to the attic to allow for the new top-oor bathroom, they faced a logistical puzzle of where to place the waste pipes from the new bathroom on the second oor. Their location in a conseration area meant placing them at the front of the building was impossible. Our architect did a great ob, says rancois. e used an old boiler room and some structural design to allow the pipes to go out the back of the building. There was a lot of thinking behind it. We were fortunate we didn’t have to cut through oists.


Getting the logistics rights was a challenge throughout the proect.


“When you get a lot of materials coming in,


it’s better to get them in earlier, rather than later,” says Andrea. “Once you miss your slot for delivery, it leads to greater delays. You need to stay in touch with your builders and fitters. “We had the cast iron bathtub delivered and


stored on the ground oor, and the builders had “forgotten” to bring it upstairs in time,” recalls rancois. t is ery heay  kg, and ery awkward to handle as the bath gets ery slippery in your hands when you sweat. The builders were ready to give up, as the bathtub also had to negotiate ertically the bend in the


jan/feb 2024


Andrea spent a lot of time researching the builders, including cold calling to see if they picked up the phone


stairs. In desperation, Andrea asked around and two strongmen from the local powerlifting gym took up the challengeand the bathtub finally made it up the stairs!” ow the proect is completed, rancois and


Andrea couldn’t be happier with the outcome. The new layout of their ground oor creates a magical setting for their regular dinner events, and een as an occasional film set or photoshoot location! Yet it is the details that make it such a personal space. “We spent time in this house while it was


unrenovated,” says Francois. “We saw the good, the bad and the ugly. People get ery emotionally engaged with these proects, and we were no exception. It was an adventure to renovate it, and this is our creation. The anticipation, the stress, and the decision- making all brought us closer together. It’s an achievement.” Andrea agrees, saying: “Going back to a home that is part of ourseles  theres a real oy in that.”


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