5 before and after house exteriors - Grand Designs magazine

5 stunning house exterior transformations

Ideas and inspiration for updating a tired façade to give it a completely new look.

By Hugh Metcalf |

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 can be given a whole a new façade. Some are easier to remodel than others. But these before and after house exteriors prove there’s plenty that can be done when a home has an lacklustre exterior.

Timber addition

This double-height extension is clad in Siberian larch. It links to the 1930s house by black fibre cement boards. The boards continue right up 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.

Before

placefortyeight exterior renovation before picture - home improvements - grand designs

After

placefortyeight exterior renovation after picture - home improvements - grand designs

Image: Matthew Jones Photography

Total transformation

Living Space Architects retained the width of the pitched brick gable of this three-bedroom 1970s bungalow in Devon. The practice were able to replace it with a rectangular box gable and projecting terrace. The project cost £246,000.

Before

 living space home exterior renovation to 3 bedroom home before picture - grand designs

After

living space home exterior makeover to 3 bedroom house - grand designs

Image: Brown Hill Photography

Character cladding

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.

Before

 roderick james architects exterior renovation of house - before picture - grand designs

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 can be given a whole a new façade. Some are easier to remodel than others. But these before and after house exteriors prove there’s plenty that can be done when a home has an lacklustre exterior.

Timber addition

This double-height extension is clad in Siberian larch. It links to the 1930s house by black fibre cement boards. The boards continue right up 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.

Before

placefortyeight exterior renovation before picture - home improvements - grand designs

After

placefortyeight exterior renovation after picture - home improvements - grand designs

Image: Matthew Jones Photography

Total transformation

Living Space Architects retained the width of the pitched brick gable of this three-bedroom 1970s bungalow in Devon. The practice were able to replace it with a rectangular box gable and projecting terrace. The project cost £246,000.

Before

 living space home exterior renovation to 3 bedroom home before picture - grand designs

After

living space home exterior makeover to 3 bedroom house - grand designs

Image: Brown Hill Photography

Character cladding

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.

Before

 roderick james architects exterior renovation of house - before picture - grand designs

Image: AFTER Image: Kilian Hall

1970s revival

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.

Before

leaf architecture house exterior renovation - before picture - grand designs

After

leaf architecture house exterior renovation - after picture - grand designs

Image: Leaf Architecture

New England style

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.

Before

cottage before exterior renovation project - home improvements - grand designs

After

after image of cottage extended and given a new england style look - home improvements - grand designs

Image: Gaby Reyl-Lewis

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