Project Brief
I was asked to restore the office in this lovely listed eighteenth century house in the Tyne valley. The fireplace had been blocked off some years ago, the windows were painted shut, there was nineteenth century flock wallpaper and ugly 1980’s radiators. There were two fitted cupboards either side, flush with the chimney breast.
The bookcases were removed and re-used in the cellar. The wallpaper was stripped and the chimney breast had 32mm dowels re-instated on the external corners. The radiators were removed.
We installed the necessary computer and Wi-Fi wiring. The shallow skirting was replaced by copying the skirting in the rest of the house which was 9”deep and proportionate with the height of the ceiling. We installed a dado rail and so that it and the skirting, did not break the line of the fireplace we stopped both short and returned them so that they came to an elegant finish.
We hung an eighteenth century lantern above the desk and installed a really stunning Jamb register grate and Carrara marble chimneypiece that is exactly the right period for this house. It is so effective that the lack of radiators is unnoticed as well being the perfect focal point for the room. A flue for installed to comply with regulations. We also fitted a marble hearth which was originally part of the nineteenth century kitchens and was found in a shed.
The owner, who is an antique dealer (one of the country’s foremost) furnished the finished room himself, which has made the project come together with the quality that this very special house deserves.
