Inspiration of the Week: a Georgian beauty given a root-and-branch refresh

When Steven and Amy Waterman first saw this tall townhouse in Bayswater – currently on the market – they realised they’d found a gem. “It didn’t need many structural changes,” Amy says, “and it was well proportioned with high ceilings. It was easy to see the potential.” Falling for the restrained façade of Flemish bond brick above rusticated stucco – typical of Georgian London – the couple, who came across it at auction during the pandemic, decided to take the plunge. It helped, they say, that despite being incredibly central, Kendal Street has a remarkable villagey feel and is just a few minutes’ walk from the expanses of Hyde Park.

In its previous life, the house had been used as a hotel, its former owners having knocked through to its neighbours on one side. While the dividing walls had been reinstated, the rooms had lost some of their original features. Going on the exquisite examples that remained and having received consent to work on the Grade II-listed building, Steven, an architectural designer who trained in New Zealand, and Amy, a doctor, set about its exhaustive renovation. Where Steve naturally took the lead on construction, Amy was in charge of the interiors. The pair have form in this department, having renovated many times before, working together as Studio WM.

The results of their labour on Kendal Street are nothing short of spectacular. New frieze mouldings join the old imperceptibly, while the wall’s crisp plasterwork, acting like panelling, lends a quiet rhythm to the tall-ceilinged spaces. Throughout the house, classic materials – oak, brass, marble – have been used, but in contemporary ways: think pale parquet and bold, almost graphic Calacatta Monet and Arabescato surfaces. These were entirely conscious moves, of course, devised to create a sense of timelessness. “We wanted to maintain the period features,” Amy explains, “but also to bring it up to more modern standards,” with sleek appliances and smart fixtures and fittings.

We at Inigo are always looking at innovative approaches to life in historic homes. If this splendid, seamless restoration doesn’t sum up exactly that, we’re not sure what will.