From bland to beautiful, these properties have each been given a new lease of life with an external re-design.
Image: Brown Hill Photography
Take a critical look at your home from the street. With any luck it just needs sprucing up, but at the other extreme a home that’s stuck in a time warp could be reinvented with a new façade.
Some are easier to remodel than others, but as these five examples of homes given a radical new look go to prove, there's plenty that can be done if your home has an eyesore exterior.
A modern addition
Before
A double-height extension clad in Siberian larch is linked to a 1930s house in Darley Abbey, Derby, by black fibre cement boards, which carry over to the bay window. Simon Foote Architects designed the £250,000 project for blogger/stylist Katy Wilson of PlaceFortyEight, and her family. It includes a rear extension.
After
Image: Matthew Jones Photography
Total transformation
Before
Living Space Architects retained the width of the pitched brick gable of a three-bedroom 1970s bungalow in Lympstone, Devon. It was replaced with a rectangular box gable and projecting terrace, with an outside porch and repositioned front door beneath. The project cost £246,000.
After
Image: Brown Hill Photography
Character cladding
Before
Roderick James Architects took on a 1920s four-bedroom detached house near Ottery St Mary, Devon, extending and renovating it. The original rendered building, now insulated and clad in untreated sawn larch, has a new pitched roof and links to a slate-hung extension. A wraparound oak-frame veranda ties it all together. The project cost £300,000.
Read more: Exterior cladding: which material to choose for your home
After
Image: Kilian Hall
1970s revival
Before
Transforming the front of a detached 1970s house in Collingtree Village, Northamptonshire, was challenging due to a visually dominant catslide roof. Leaf Architecture enveloped it into a two-storey front extension, also adding a large, glazed gable entrance and a two-storey rear extension. Dark concrete roof tiles, white render and cedar cladding were selected to suit the character of the street. The project cost £250,000-£300,000.
After
Image: Leaf Architecture
New England style
Before
Space & Style Home Design extended a small pre-war bungalow in Fareham, Hampshire, up and outwards for £230,000 and it now has three bedrooms. Big gables, an open porch, a widened entrance, cladding and self-coloured render give the building a New England look. Window and door openings were adjusted to suit the new design.
After
Image: Gaby Reyl-Lewis
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