Holland Park townhouse: Explore this renovated and extended Victorian home
Previously dark and dated, this Holland Park townhouse is now a welcoming family home, with a statement staircase at the centre of its design.
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The property
A Victorian Holland Park townhouse has been transformed into a modern home (opens in new tab) with a modern extension (opens in new tab), new light and bright interiors and stunning garden landscaping.
Previously dark and dated, the Holland Park townhouse is now a welcoming family home, with a statement staircase (opens in new tab) at the centre of it's design.
The owners brought on Guy Stansfeld Architects (23+GS/318) (opens in new tab) to help them completely reconfigure the layout, and extend into the basement. Guy worked closely with interior designer Samantha Todhunter (opens in new tab) on the new interior scheme, which is light, bright and airy with unexpected pops of colour – for example in the blue hallway (opens in new tab), and the pink bathroom (opens in new tab).
See Also: This 19th century New York brownstone townhouse features a refreshingly modern interior (opens in new tab)
Entrance
The owners wanted their semi-detached Victorian villa to be brighter and more spacious for their family, while also incorporating well-placed traditional flourishes and palette.
Crittall-style doors (opens in new tab) frame the wallpapered entrance hall (opens in new tab).
Home office
Directly across from the entrance is a bright and open home office (opens in new tab) area.
Living area
To the right of the entrance hall is a chic and grown-up living area, designed by Samantha Todhunter.
As the living areas were previously very dark spaces, the architects included lots of windows and glazing to provide views out to the garden and let in natural light.
Excavating the existing lower ground floor enabled the architects to create more generous ceiling heights throughout the home, and to bring in additional natural light.
See Also: Explore a renovated and extended Victorian townhouse in Holland Park
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Staircase
A new staircase (opens in new tab) was installed, adding a dramatic centrepiece to the entrance hallway and through the core of the house.
More traditional materials were selected for the balustrade components, but were designed to give a cleaner, more contemporary feel. Inspired by the work of Carlo Scarpa and Japanese Lacquerware, the bannister was a bespoke design, fabricated from solid natural brass flat bars to form the balusters, with a black oil finish to the steel brackets and a stained oak handrail.
Kitchen
The staircase leads up to the modern white kitchen (opens in new tab).
Brass detailing warms up the white scheme.
The white kitchen and informal breakfast area lead through to a more dramatic dining room.
Master bathroom
The master ensuite bathroom (opens in new tab) features Crittall doors (opens in new tab), his and hers double basins (opens in new tab), and lots of warm brass accents, from the taps to the bathroom lighting (opens in new tab) and bathroom mirrors (opens in new tab).
Kids bathroom
There's also a more playful pink bathroom (opens in new tab) for the kids.
Kids room
Up in the loft there's a kids desk (opens in new tab) and playroom (opens in new tab).
Terrace
The architects also increased the size of the garden terrace in order to create a better flow and connection between the indoors and outdoors.
See Also: See how a small Victorian terrace has been tastefully extended into a modern family home (opens in new tab)
Lotte is the Digital Editor for Livingetc, and has been with the website since its launch. She has a background in online journalism and writing for SEO, with previous editor roles at Good Living, Good Housekeeping, Country & Townhouse, and BBC Good Food among others, as well as her own successful interiors blog. When she's not busy writing or tracking analytics, she's doing up houses, two of which have features in interior design magazines. She's just finished doing up her house in Wimbledon, and is eyeing up Bath for her next project.
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