Grand Designs: London Edwardian eco home

Everyone has an idea of their dream home, the perfect house for them – but what happens when we get older? When the house is no longer suitable for our needs, it’s usually time to move to an adapted facility.

But what if you could design your own, that mirrored your original perfect home? Enter the Edwardian eco home.

Kathryn, who is now in her 80s, had been living in her street in Barnet, North London for the last 60 years. At the time they moved they had a 1-year old son, and she and her husband were 24 and 31.

The Edwardian home held plenty of fond memories for her, the perfect place to bring up their family which became two children, in a quiet and peaceful place.

Now however, the Edwardian home is not fit for her accessibility needs and costs a fortune to heat and run.

The high ceilings, big rooms and lovely long garden and no longer required. Now that her husband has passed away, the need to move has become more urgent. However, having spent so long in this street in Barnet, Kathryn admits: “If I were to leave this street, I would feel desolate.”

This is a dilemma that many at that time of life will relate to.

A mirrored Edwardian eco home

Luckily, Kathryn has a plan that will mean she doesn’t have to move – not far anyway.

With the help of architect James Mac, a new home will be built next door.

Taking all the benefits of the location and familiar friends and neighbours around, but in a new, accessible property that is built for Kathryn’s needs.

The project begins in September 2023, with demolishing the music room extension and garage next door.

The new, semi-detached house will mirror the Edwardian house next door but with some important adjustments.

It will be well insulated, and have an air source heat pump, solar panels and a battery contained within the roof to hold the electricity.

This showcases not only Kathryn’s accessibility needs as a woman in her 80s, but also her real passion for sustainability.

What to expect

The bright, well lit property will also be semi open plan, with modern, step-free accessibility.

A mid-century kitchen will feature the recycled elm, and at the front of the house there will be a small office space under the stairs and a utility room.

At the back of the ground floor there will be a bedroom with adaptable, shower room ensuite.

Crucially, everything Kathryn needs will be on the ground floor, with extras upstairs for guests and family visitors to use.

The project is set to cost £607,000 with Kathryn’s son Gordon offering £100,000 from the sale of his house, and Kathryn’s savings being used to fund it.

The old house will be sold once Kathryn has moved into the new property, and it is set to take a year.

Unfortunately, as there is no wiggle-room with the finances, if the project goes over budget then Kathryn may be forced to sell the old house sooner, and then would need to rent a flat and put her things into storage until the new house is completed.

Getting underway

Tenacious taskmaster, Toni Halloran is taking the lead as the contractor for the project.

While this is her first new-build project, she is ahead of the game with materials having ordered them in advance.

Her confidence is high as she believes it will be on or under budget and be completed in less than a year.

Toni was definitely onto something, as by October 2023 the old structure is gone and the first phase of the foundations for the new property are well underway.

They are underpinning the existing house before laying the new house structure.

However, the music room’s foundations are actually more extensive than first thought causing delays.

The weather is also a cause of delays in the autumn, with rain delaying digging, although thankfully holds off long enough for the concrete pour.

Toni makes the decision to spend more money on covered scaffolding with the aim of getting it up urgently, making the site completely watertight.

It’s an additional cost though, as the original scaffolding was planned at a cost of £18,000, but with the tin roof that cost goes up to £21,000.

An ambitious undertaking

Not all of Kathryn’s family are on board with her decision to go ahead with the build though.

When Kevin asks Kathryn if anyone thinks she’s mad, she says only her daughter, Rosalind.

“Building a home as ambitious as this one is a huge undertaking. Especially for an elderly parent.”

Rosalind explains: “When my mother first told me she was going to do this, I was a bit horrified actually.

“A child wants to protect their parent, especially when another parent dies.

“I didn’t want her living on a building site, in potential danger or living under financial strain.

“I wanted her to enjoy the rest of her life and not be worrying about where the next penny is coming from.”

Extra costs

Kevin on the other hand, has great admiration for Kathryn for this project. Even if the issues and costs are cropping up along the way.

Two enormous panes of glass facing the new house will need to become a wall, so this will now need to be bricked up. Some or all of part of the roof will need to be replaced.

Possibly most stressfully, there is a problem with the sewage and a pipe needs to run from the other side of the road.

To fit this they will need to close the road, which adds additional legal costs. The sewage issues alone are expected to cost over £20k.

We are now halfway through Katherine’s 12 month schedule in April 2024, and the block and brick structure of the new home is complete.

The focus is now on insulating the timber rafters, as well as fitting the new roof as well as the buildings curved walls to fit with the Edwardian structure.

Not quite ready

Kathryn is feeling a bit apprehensive for the first time: “Although I think it will be lovely and I am looking forward to it. I’m still not putting myself in this place yet. But I am quite sure I will love being in this building, I’m just not there at the moment.”

It’s no doubt that the rising costs are contributing to Kathryn’s nerves. Knitting the old roof to the new one has cost an extra £50k – adding more time, costs and labour to the project.

In June 2024 the new windows have arrived, these will bring plenty of light in and help to keep Kathryn’s fuel costs down. Thankfully these were already budgeted for so it’s not another strain. The scaffolding is now due to come down, seven months after it went up.

Toni has assured Kathryn she can delay her payment and her team’s until the original house is sold. This is a small element at what has become a beautiful and special client and contractor relationship which isn’t always the case.

Connecting Edwardian eco home to the grid

A final sucker punch comes at the cost of connecting Kathryn’s new suburban house to the electricity grid.

The cable currently ends across the road, it’s a little single cable with not enough in the system to connect the new house. To wire in Kathryn’s new house, it’s going to cost £19,000.

“I am staggered by that. It’s unbelievable.” Kevin for once, is almost speechless.

A long lost sister

Thankfully, they managed to overcome the cost of this and complete the build and when Kevin goes back to visit in November 2024 he is suitably impressed.

“It looks like a long lost sister who has finally been reunited with her sibling, what a clever thing.

“You could drive past it and not give it a second glance, but tomorrow be stuck in your tracks by it. It’s a full package Edwardian upgrade with facelift, plus nip and tuck detail in the form of zinc and aluminium.

“This isn’t shocking architecture, it’s meant to say I’m at home in this place, I belong here. It’s super clever and really welcoming.”

But does it feel like home for Kathryn?

“I think it does, because I have all my things around me. I’m really looking forward to being in here.

“The whole family are coming over for Christmas so I’ll be pushing it to its limits.

“The project took a year and three weeks in the end, and the original house has sold. A family who lives in the road already bought it, and it sold within a few hours.”

The exterior might pay homage to the Edwardians, but the interior is very much of its time.

Inside the Edwardian eco home

A centre-stage, open batten screen runs the full height of the staircase which is lit by the large windows around it.

Meanwhile the open-plan living and kitchen area seems to be a journey in space and time.

Kevin exclaims: “I can’t get over the size, it actually feels wider than the house next door.”

The bay window in the living area is a piece of genius with bench seating and storage underneath, as is the clever office tucked and lined in the same oak.

Kathryn’s wing-backed chairs and Persian rug are nods to the old house, showcasing that her things have memories and meaning as they move from old to new.

The stunning roof is glorious, while the kitchen has shelves and units made with the elm from the original music room floor.

Everything is crucially at Kathryn’s height, both convenient and civilised with energy conservation front and centre.

The triple glazed windows mean the house is nice and warm, with a monthly cost of £66 to cover the energy use.

It’s quite a drop from the house next door which was costing Kathryn around £340+ a month.

Rosalind is relieved too, she’s happy her mum is happy and is in a good state of health and able to enjoy the house.

It’s a new chapter on the street for the first time in sixty years.

It’s never too late

The initial budget was £606,000 with the eventual spend on the new property ending up between £800,000 and £900,000.

There were lots of things we hadn’t anticipated, son Gordon explains. “Had we known the unexpected costs would crop up, we probably wouldn’t have specified as we did.”

But the result is a beautiful building with a low energy, light filled, accessible home and Kathryn is clearly looking forward to spending the rest of her life here.

We all run the risk of following a predictable path. Kathryn did a genius thing, moving her things into a remastered, reimagined building and curated her story.

Editing down the objects that meant something to her, putting them into a vessel of the building, which, from now on is the crafted version of her home.

It’s never too late to create something spectacular for yourself.

READ MORE

• How to design an accessible home
• How to create the perfect shower room
• Accessible and stylish – inclusive design that looks great too