We ahve recently completed a full refurbishment of a house in Islington.
The Little Drummer Girl was produced by the BBC in 2018. Set in the 1980’s, finding properties that fit with the drama should be hard to come by in this day and age. However they found a house in Islington somehow, with a little set dressing, seemed to tick all the boxes.
The landlord was getting ready to refurbish the whole building, when the BBC approached him, allowing them to film just before works started and allowed the house to get its 15 minutes of fame.
The house however, was no longer fit for purpose and needed a lot more than just TLC. Previously a HMO, there were some indications of subsidence and areas where the building was starting to fall away. This all needed to be sured up, made safe before any refurbishment works could be undertaken. As the Building Contractor, we even went as far as to suggest to take the building down and start again.
The area of Islington, near Essex Road, is somewhat of a bubble. The large Victorian houses which can command high prices. This project would need heavy investment to ensure the house would stand firm for another hundred years and to also provide the owner with a return on their investment.
The house was also listed, which meant there was a lot of input from Heritage Officers and the Council.
Striped back to Brickwork, top to bottom. Corners of the building had to be tied together and underpinning took place to prevent further subsidence. Tanking in the basement to prevent any water ingress, new plastering, full rewire and new plumbing.
Once decorated, the house was unrecognisable.
The house is no longer designed as a HMO for starters. This is a single dwelling, but its more than just a building. This can now be someones home.
Over five floors, the house boats a state of the art modern kitchen and dinning room, 4 bathrooms, 5 bedrooms, a dinning room and two reception rooms. The courtyard garden has also been overhauled, creating a simple and elegant solution
Some of the character can still be felt walking around the house. But it is now bright, open and clean; you can see people would want to live here now.
But the before and after photos, give you an idea of how far this property has come.