VICTORIAN RENOVATION WITH INDUSTRIAL CHARM
We met Annika and Chris at their beautiful Victorian villa in St Johns, after purchasing the house two years ago they’ve just completed an impressive renovation of the kitchen/dining room. We chat interiors, weekend walks around the Pantiles and the best places in the world to ski!
What is your connection to Tunbridge Wells?
Chris grew up in Uckfield and moved away to university and then London where they met. His family live in Buxted so moving to Tunbridge Wells was logical to be close to family and still able to get up to London quickly for work. Annika is originally from Germany and after studying in the UK, moved to London where she lived for 13 years. Having always lived in a city, Annika was keen to live somewhere with easy access to shops and cafes and hence T Wells also was perfectly suited.
When you were property searching what attracted you to the St John’s area?
We wanted somewhere that was close enough to the town centre to walk for catching the train or going to the shops. We found that a lot of the properties in our budget right in the centre were lovely but had quite small gardens and we could get a lot more space here. We like the convenience of local amenities just around the corner too.
Unlike a lot of people we’ve spoken to, we weren’t really thinking about schools when property searching (our son was still just a bump), however, the availability of many good primary and secondary schools is now a big appeal.
Did you know you wanted to renovate the property prior to moving in and how did you put the plans into action?
Yes, but we knew that we wanted to live in it for at least a year to figure out what worked and what didn’t. The house was perfectly liveable when we bought it – it had been home to the same family for about 18 years – but it wasn’t our style and the layout didn’t reflect our needs.
After a year, we still couldn’t figure out 100% what needed to change, and were going round in circles. So we spoke to several architects to get a few ideas and start considering what the project might entail. From that point on, things accelerated very quickly and we got our architectural designer to draw up some ideas. The key components were the kitchen dining room, but also the addition of a new en-suite bathroom in the master bedroom and reconfiguring the family bathroom. The architect pointed out that we could create a utility and downstairs loo using the existing garage to remove this from the centre of the house where it was previously. This allowed us to fully open up the downstairs.
The reconfiguration of the kitchen and dining room works perfectly, who did you use to complete the build?
We used John Bullock Design and Brickhurst were the building contractor. The move of the kitchen to the front of the house was something we would never have considered and John Bullock came up with the idea. The steel doors at the back were our biggest indulgence but we are so, so pleased with the end result – it completes the whole industrial feel and floods that end with light, despite it being north facing. They are from Fabco Sanctury based in Worthing, who were fantastic through the design process and their fitters had so much attention to detail it was insane! It really paid off to have them manage such a crucial part from start to finish.
Where is your kitchen from?
We went to pretty much every kitchen shop in Tunbridge Wells (and there are a lot!) and felt that Kutchenhaus could deliver everything and more that we wanted. We originally were going to go down the traditional Shaker kitchen route, given the age of the house, but none of the designs we saw particularly excited us. So contrary to both our nature’s we decided to go ultra-modern with an industrial feel. We chose to expose an old chimney breast as well as specifying the new structural beam to be left exposed and painted black to further accentuate the industrial style. The textured, slate effect finish was another gamble because it could look very dark, however as we have a south-facing bay window, luckily this has never been a problem. The light worktop also helps to lift it as well.
Sarah at Kutchenhaus understood what we were after, was so relaxed and easy to work with, but most of all never once felt like she was trying to sell us something, so it all came naturally. She had some great advice about the layout and the use of different pieces to perform different functions and was honest with us if we had ideas that wouldn’t work in her experience, which we appreciated.
What advice would you give to anyone thinking about taking on a project like this?
Be absolutely certain about every single detail before you get on site. Chris is bordering on OCD when it comes to detail, and yet there were still things that didn’t make it into the plans or specification which we left to assumption. Builder’s don’t assume the same thing as you, and can’t mind read! These are the things that end up costing you money just when you least expect it.
Whilst we had builders complete the majority of the work, it really paid to be on-site every single day of the project. A lot can happen in a short space of time, so either hire a project manager you know you can trust, or be ready to invest your own time (sweat and tears) to get it right.
Check that your builder has experience of working on similar projects or with specific aspects of your brief if they are a bit out of the ordinary. For example, we needed specialist insulation on the walls and under the downstairs floor, which were both new techniques. This was a learning exercise for everyone! If in doubt, call in the experts for specialist jobs.
Take time to reflect on how much has progressed and how amazing it will be when it is finished. When you are 2 months into a 5-month build and things aren’t quite going to plan, it can be tough to stay positive, but it is worth it in the end!
Get stuck in. We saved some cash by doing some of the demolition/strip out ourselves.
You have lots of antique pieces in your home, where do you source them from?
We have been lucky to inherit some pieces from Annika’s family (one of the little cabinets was made by Annika’s great-granddad) and have also got some from her stepfather’s furniture business in Germany. Our favourite item is a set of wooden filing drawers that are in the kitchen/ dining room. We found these in the garage of a house we bought previously and it used to be full of screws, nails and various nick-nacks. We chose not to clean them up at all and have left them looking very rough and ready which we love. We moved them to the house once the work was finished and found that they fit in the space to within a mm (totally unplanned!). The small church pew is from Austria but was a bit wasted being used as a perch whilst people put their ski boots on! The dining table is from Blooms near Penshurt and is made from reclaimed mahogany. Their furniture barn out in the countryside is a really good find, make sure you go with your bartering skills and be ready to pay cash!
Do you have any hobbies?
Chris has been snowboarding since 1997 and its always been a huge part of his life with time spent all over the world chasing the snow. We have been snowboarding together since we met 8 years ago (with Annika getting some encouragement to try it when we met). We both enjoy cycling, on and off road. Of an evening, we like nothing more than Annika getting stuck into a puzzle and Chris escaping to the shed to tinker with a bit of woodwork to make different bits and pieces for the house. Pre-kids we also went to a lot of live music gigs together and do still try and get to see things locally or further afield when we can.
You also have a property in Austria, tell us more about it…
Following a drunken chat in a Soho bar one evening, 12 months after meeting, we started looking for a chalet to move to in the Alps. We stumbled upon the area of Dienten am Hochkönig about an hour south of Salzburg when on a road trip around Europe in 2012. The area is completely unspoiled with very traditional alpine villages and culture. At the same time, there has been huge investment in the lift infrastructure, making it a fantastic place to ski for families. The original plan was to actually set up a catered chalet and live in year round. However further research made us realise this wasn’t the right business in that particular area.
In the end, we moved to Munich when Annika accepted a job there and Chris spent about 6 months down in Austria working to bring back to life a 300-year-old farmhouse that had been a failing rental property for years. It’s amazing what you can learn from YouTube and a lot of trial and error, and we managed to do pretty much all the work ourselves and with the help of family/friends. At the start of the 2013/14 winter season, we welcomed our first guests. It was a really hard slog that first winter, and a very steep learning curve. We now are fortunate to have a good network of friends locally to help out in the odd emergency (like it being buried with over 3m of snow last winter!).
Chalet dientencabin.com
Where are your top three places to ski around the world?
Keeping it to 3 is really hard!
Whistler, Canada – incredible range of terrain for anyone from novice to expert with super friendly village
La Grave, France – truly terrifying, beautiful big mountain skiing where a guide is essential
The Fellersbachbahn in the Hochkönig on a powder day – Chris’ secret powder stash!
To sneak in a 4th - The Dacheggbahn in Dienten – also known as Annika’s run as it was her first-ever red run and to this day is the favourite in the area.
What advice would you give to a skiing novice?
Invest in some expert tutoring to get you through the initial basics in as little time (and pain) as possible. Then you can really start enjoying it more quickly. Watch other people – if it looks easy then that probably means they know what they’re doing. You can learn a lot by watching and replicating. Probably best to avoid getting a loved one to give you your first lesson if they are more experienced – unless you both have the patience of a saint!
Tell us five things you love about Tunbridge Wells?
1. The old high street / Pantiles for general mooching about on the weekend
2. Easy access to the countryside
3. Wildside Cycles on Camden Road – run by friends. Passionate about cycling and very knowledgeable. Their shop rides on the first Sunday of each month are a great way to meet people
4. The fact you have all the shops and amenities you could want without needing to travel further afield, but the town has a good feel in terms of size.
5. The people – We have been welcomed with open arms since moving down and have made some wonderful friends. In our experience having good friends and family close by is the most important thing about any place.
Your top 5 places to eat/drink or buy produce from in TW?
1. Locality on Camden Road for fresh fruit and veg – very friendly service and they always have nice and fresh produce.
2. Fine Grind / Gusta – Two fantastic coffee places to choose from.
3. The Twenty Six for a treat – amazing food and lovely atmosphere, always a special night out
4.The Poet in Matfield – relaxed pub feeling with food that is always exceptional
5. Kingdom – It feels like a mini-break having a coffee there whilst just enjoying the views. And it’s great for letting the little one run around outside too.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Get the garden finished – planting, finishing the lawn, building an Argentinean Parrilla BBQ (Chris spent 6 months having a ‘career break’ (snowboarding) there in 2010 and loved their style of outdoor cooking).
Stripping back one of the bedrooms to the brick and installing insulation ready for redecoration in the summer. We did this in several other rooms last year and it made a big difference to the warmth of the house in winter.
If you’re not in Tunbridge Wells (or Austria), where are you?
Usually in the countryside or over in Germany visiting the family.
Supplier Directory:
Sashy & Sashy – we used them to refurbish the old sashes (make them draught-proof) and to make new ones in some rooms. Excellent craftsmanship and we love the finished product.
Tunbridge Wells Shutters – made and supplied our shutters in the kitchen.
Bailey Wighton supplied all our carpets. Excellent selection as well as friendly and professional service throughout.
Settle – a few small items and tartan chair – one of the first things we got when we moved into the house and we still love it.
Blooms – for the dining table as above
Annika and Chris would like to offer a 10% discount* to Official Tunbridge Wells readers for Winter 2019/20 bookings at their Austrian log cabin.
*Applies to bookings of 7 days or more, for more information see their website dientencabin.com
Quote: OfficialTW when booking.
