My Modern House: A Home for an Architect

My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London
My Modern House, Haven Mews, London

In our new series ‘My Modern House’ we’re revisiting some of the properties we’ve previously sold, to hear first-hand from the owners what it’s like to live in some of the UK’s finest modern architecture.

Vicky and her husband David purchased a modern mews house in Islington’s Barnsbury conservation area in the early spring of 2014. One of a group of three properties, built in 2003 to a design by the architects Buckley Gray and Yeoman, the house was constructed on the site of a former warehouse, tucked discretely between four rows of Georgian terraces.

Having purchased the house, the couple were well-placed to adapt it into their dream home, Vicky being a director at the architecture practice Allies and Morrison, and David the owner of DSA Engineering consultancy. Alongside her work as an architect, Vicky is also an exhibiting potter and collector of vintage finds – a key part of the renovations after they moved in involved creating a studio for her work within the house.

Vicky’s latest exhibition, entitled Funny Shaped Jugs – showcasing a personal collection of work created in the aftermath of chemotherapy for breast cancer – takes place locally to their home, at Coexistence showroom in Islington from the 2-3 December.

We caught up with Vicky and David to hear more about the exhibition and to find out what life is like in their modern house …

How did you first come across the property?
We first came across it on The Modern House website, where we were already listing our property in France as a Holiday Let. It was an immediate ‘YES!’ when we saw it, despite the fact we were primarily looking for something in the Camden area. The house offered space and light, which had been ingeniously created by the original architects.

What were your initial thoughts when you went to view the property?
The house was perfect. It wasn’t entirely decorated to our taste, but could be easily converted to make it a personal home.

We re-imagined the existing cream and taupe interior with a white and grey palette with ever-present yellow (Vicky’s favourite colour) accents. It also satisfied our desire for outside space, without the responsibility of having a proper garden.

One of the key features of the house that appealed straight away was the way in which terraces and lightwells bring light into every room on a relatively constrained site.

Do you think being an architect makes it easier or more difficult when you’re house hunting?
You could argue both. You can immediately grasp the potential of a property, but at the same time you’re more aware of elements such as balustrades and lighting that have been designed by another architect and don’t necessarily chime with your aesthetic, but are difficult to unpick. It’s a good lesson in adapting to something, rather than always controlling your environment.

Where were you living before?
We were living in Camden, in part of a converted warehouse. It was rented and we were keen to buy somewhere that didn’t share an entrance and that we could make our own. The original intention was to buy a property that needed a lot of work doing to it, so we could employ our skills as architect and engineer more heavily, but nothing came up. This house was a close approximation to what we might have designed for ourselves.

How long did it take for the house to feel like home?
After we moved in in the March of 2014 it felt like home pretty quickly. We had a couple of months work done on it, and moved in when it was complete, giving us the luxury of not living on a building site!

Tell us about the work you’ve done to the property.
The biggest project was converting one of the lower ground floor bedrooms into a studio, for Vicky to make pots and work with vintage textiles. We made an office, for David, out of the smallest bedroom which leant itself perfectly to a linear desk arrangement.

The rest of the property was redecorated, integrating Vicky’s varied collection of yellow objects, from ceramics, to furniture, to paintings. Much of the furniture came from Coexistence in Islington, complementing an existing collection of items that we’d gathered over the years.

How did you go about deciding on the aesthetic for the redecoration?
We used a neutral palette – both in terms of colours and materials – as a backdrop for the colourful and vintage items we wanted within it. Although the house is very light, making the walls and ceiling white served to bring even more light in. Vicky’s penchant for yellow and vintage had to be balanced with David’s desire to create the starkness of the Ryoan-ii zen temple in Kyoto!

Is there anything further you’d like to do to the property?
Not really. We see it as complete now. The difficulty is to stop bringing new things into the house and cluttering the calm atmosphere that exists there.

What’s your favourite thing about living there?
The studio, the light, having all our collected things around us, as well as being close to friends and meeting spots in Islington.

Are there any downsides?
Not really – we’re really fortunate to live there. We’ve even stopped wishing we could pick it up and drop it into Camden!

What is the area like to live in?
Islington is really mixed and varies from the bustle of Chapel Market to the elegance of Georgian squares. David in particular loves the tranquillity of living in a cobbled courtyard mews in the middle of Islington, the fact that he can walk to work, and the dozens of restaurants nearby.

Are there any other properties in the UK that could tempt you away?
Not yet. In fact, we think it’s dangerous to think too much of moving just for the sake of change. It works for us.

Finally, tell us a bit more about Vicky’s upcoming exhibition.
In 2012, in the aftermath of chemotherapy for breast cancer Vicky embarked on the C-cup project, (big) C for cancer and the obvious bra size reference. It involved hand throwing 36 C-cups in stoneware in three different shapes and colours, paired and boxed in specially-designed packaging. The reference being that 36C is the most common bra size and the different designs reflect the varying size and shape of breasts. These were donated to the Maggie Centre in Aberdeen for use by visitors and staff.

Leading on from that, Vicky has now collected 36 pairs of ‘funny shaped jugs’. The idea being that it’s what you’re left with after breast cancer recovery. They’re curated in pairs which complement each other in shape, colour or design, but do not match, reflecting the inevitable but often unappreciated a-symmetry of the post-operative world of cancer recovery.

All profits from this enterprise will be donated to Maggie’s Centres, a haven for all in the cancer community.

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Photography: Elyse Kennedy

 

 

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