When we first viewed our little house back in November 2020, it was hard to see past the ugly exterior. The brickwork had been coated in pebbledash, the bay window had been taken down and replaced with a porch built over the top of it, fake dark brown wooden uPVC windows with fake stained glass had been added, and the windows on the first floor had also been made larger than they would have been originally.

But we could see the potential. Looking at the next-door neighbour’s house gave us inspiration and hope that our exterior could look like it traditionally would have done – and so we didn’t let it put us off making an offer.

The front of our house when we first moved in.

Fast-forward a few months (and a bit of lockdown!), and we found a great contractor who was able to start the work in November 2020, 6 months after we moved in. Before beginning the work, he removed a little piece of pebbledash from around the window to check that the bricks underneath weren’t too badly damaged. Luckily for us, they weren’t, but our back up plan would have been to flat render and paint the house white instead.

The process began with the pebbledash removal, it was hacked off using specialist equipment, before the bricks, which were now uncovered, were sanded down and restored. Next the ugly porch that had been built over the top of the bay window was taken down and the bay itself was replaced with a timber bay which was made off site, and a brand-new roof was added to the top. Then the windows on the first floor were taken out too, and bricks were added back in to create the window size and shape that would have been original to the building – we used our next-door neighbour’s window sizes to work out how big these should be. Finally, the brick work was repointed with lime mortar. This part of the process took around four weeks in total.

During the restoration works, once the pebbledash had been removed.

Once the pebbledash had been removed, the bricks had been repointed and the bay window had been restored.

During this time, we also agreed with the contractor that we would source the new windows ourselves, because we had a quote from a local window company that was far cheaper than anything he was able to provide. This did come with the huge caveat though that because he was not responsible for the windows, we couldn’t take measurements in advance and instead had to wait for the new bay and first floor windows to be built to size and then have our window company come and measure up.

Due to covid, there were huge delays in having the windows made and it took around two months for these to finally be installed. During that time, in the middle of winter and in a national lockdown, we lived with all of the windows at the front of our house boarded up with chipboard. We tried our best to insulate by adding some insulation to the inside of the chipboard – but suffice to say, it was a long, cold winter for us!

The front windows boarded up for months over winter.

But finally, at the beginning of February 2021, just a few days after we’d been to collect our new cocker spaniel puppy, Holly, our window company came and installed our brand new uPVC white sash windows and we were finally warm again!

As part of the restoration of the front of the house, we also got a new timber front door made by a local joinery, called Beechhall. They also supplied and fitted a new fan light above the door to bring some extra light into the hallway. The new front door was made from Accoya wood, which is designed not to warp, and replaced the horrible uPVC fake stained glass and wood-effect door that had been there when we moved in.

Our pink front door painted in Peignoir from Farrow and Ball and made from Accoya timber

All in all, we started the works at the end of November 2020, and the whole front of the house was finally finished at the end of February 2020. It felt like an incredibly long time whilst we were in the middle of it, in the depths of lockdown and winter – but having come out of the other side and seeing the difference made to the front façade, it was so worth it. We’ve tried to restore the front to what it would have looked like originally, with beautiful London bricks, a bay window, and lovely sash windows too.

Restoring the front façade of our Victorian terrace in London

The Little House in London: our home story