Surrey Homes | SH109 | February 2024 | Education Supplement inside

new together into a cohesive whole on the outside.
The careful blend of classic and contemporary continues
throughout the interior, and the new spaces blend seamlessly
with the original. It has all been very well thought out,
but when the couple first bought the house it was far from
certain that they’d even be able to do a loft conversion, as
Sophie explains. “For my work I do lots of loft conversions.
Sarah asked if we could do a loft here, and if it had been
a client asking, I’d have said no, because the roof ridge
height was lower than ideal; through careful planning
we were able to find a solution with a large dormer at
the back and rooflights over the en suite which is tucked
into the slope of the front roof.” This has meant that
they’ve managed to squeeze a whole bathroom into what
normally becomes a cupboard or waste of space. It was
a tight fit though and the shower door had to be made
and fitted precisely to match the angle of the ceiling.
Ingeniously the staircase up into the loft is not separated
into what could have been a gloomy, narrow access
point, but incorporated into the room, so that valuable
space is saved and the third floor feels open and airy.
Light comes flooding into the loft room through a large
window and from the rooflights. “The picture window runs
full width at the back, which brings in so much natural light.
It is a lovely place to wake up in – and have the view.”
The loft extension was the first project the couple
completed when they moved in, and Sophie has a huge tip
for anyone going through the house renovation or extension
process, especially undertaking work in phases, as and
when affordable. “When we first moved here it was a two
bedroomed house with one double bedroom and a single.
We decided to do the loft extension immediately to create
an en suite bedroom, which meant we could have family
and friends to stay, and that we had also turned it into a
three bedroomed house. Doing it this way – rather than
“There was already a
1980s extension with
a kitchen and a loo
at the back, and we
badly needed to change
that because the best
view of the garden
on the ground floor
was from the loo.”
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