{"id":17522,"date":"2022-12-12T09:30:35","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T08:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=37730"},"modified":"2022-12-12T10:13:59","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T09:13:59","slug":"a-colourful-1970s-house-in-london","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-colourful-1970s-house-in-london\/","title":{"rendered":"A colourful 1970s house in London"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By kirstylyons\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 12 December 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Gillian Milner had the urge to buy an unusual property infused with character back in 2004 when she and her husband, Richard, decided to move out of their Battersea flat and buy a family home. Their children, Jack and Lola, are now 17 and 14. \u2018I was put off by the narrow proportions of typical Victorian terraces and went looking for an old warehouse or factory building in east London, with big open spaces and lots of light,\u2019 Gillian explains. \u2018Then, by chance, we spotted this house on a random property website. It\u2019s one-of-a-kind, built by a property developer in\nthe 1970s.\u2019<\/p>\n

Although Gillian was unimpressed with the \u2018blocky\u2019 appearance of the brick and brown-tiled building \u2013 tacked onto the end of an urban street and surrounded by Thirties houses \u2013 she pressed on to see if the inside was as good as she\u2019d hoped from the photos. Arranged over four floors, the house had nearly all of its original fixtures and fittings: a Formica kitchen, avocado and canary-yellow bathroom suites, wood panelling, slatted wardrobes and huge windows.<\/p>\n

\u2018We were able to buy lots of the original furniture, too,\u2019 Gillian adds. \u2018There were so many great pieces \u2013 a battered leather sofa, G Plan coffee table and sideboard, leatherette bar stools and bed frames with built-in bedside shelves.\u2019 However, it was the ground-floor disco room connected to an indoor swimming pool that really blew the couple away. \u2018It was absolutely incredible,\u2019 says Gillian. \u2018The whole of the downstairs looked frozen in time, as though a Seventies pool party was about to begin.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Having so much space was a huge step up for Gillian and Richard and, at first, they hesitated about committing to the purchase. However, the intact 1970s interiors had been attracting interest as a film and photographic shoot location and sometimes the property was hired out. \u2018We fell in love with the house because it was different from the norm and, at the same time, I could see its appeal to clients,\u2019 says Gillian, who runs Location Creation, promoting properties for use as a location for film shoots and photography.\u00a0 \u2018Richard and I decided to go for it in the hope that, as a shoot location, the house would help pay for itself \u2013 which it has over the years.\u2019<\/p>\n

But beneath the excitement of the unusual property find, Gillian noted work needed doing. Some 40-odd years on, parts of the house weren\u2019t wearing well \u2013 cracked bathroom tiles and a perilous swimming pool and roof, for instance. \u2018We rebuilt the swimming pool to a safer depth, added a new roof and completely revamped the garden,\u2019 says Gillian. \u2018In doing so, we created a new roof terrace for the living and dining rooms above, which we gave a leafy, Seventies, American Palm Springs vibe.\u2019<\/p>\n

Magnolia walls didn\u2019t feel in keeping with the era, so wallpaper<\/a> became one of the major transformations to roll back time. \u2018The Seventies was an exuberant, fun era with gorgeous patterns and rich colours, and what better way to show that off than with bold wallpaper,\u2019 says Gillian. \u2018We\u2019ve got different colours in each room \u2013 oranges, yellows, browns, greens and pinks \u2013 and they also make a great backdrop for photoshoots.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Another big change came about when a client asked if they could paint one of the living room walls a dark brown for a shoot. \u2018The wall is something like seven metres long and wallpaper would\u2019ve been too much, so we didn\u2019t really know what to do with it,\u2019 says Gillian. \u2018When we saw how fabulous it looked painted a rich brown, we kept it like this. In fact, over the years, quite a few interior changes have evolved from the input of stylists from music and magazine shoots, such as how they moved furniture around or arranged a plant or a lamp.\u2019<\/p>\n

Gillian bought shag-pile rugs and has added to the furniture that was already here, looking out for G Plan design \u2013 a 1970s favourite \u2013 in vintage shops<\/a> and markets and being given pieces by friends. \u2018We seem to be top of the list when someone inherits a piece of Seventies furniture they don\u2019t want,\u2019 she says. \u2018And everyone knows I\u2019m happy with anything from the Seventies as a birthday or Christmas gift<\/a> \u2013 I\u2019ve asked for another disco ball for my birthday.\u2019 One of her favourite gifts was a full Denby dinner service with a brown flowery pattern; collectable crockery she doesn\u2019t hesitate to use on a regular basis. \u2018I also have a bright yellow melamine coffee pot set, which I love,\u2019 she adds.<\/p>\n

As well as popping into local charity shops and mid-century shops in nearby Crystal Palace, Gillian visits Bexhill-on-Sea and Hastings, known for their antiques shops<\/a>. She loves to style her finds with vases, plants, and cushions and lampshades made from vintage fabrics<\/a>. The arrangements add depth and authenticity to rooms, enhancing the style that first drew her and Richard to the property.<\/p>\n

\u2018I love that people come over and light up when they recognise a sideboard that their grandmother had, or an avocado wash basin they had growing up,\u2019 says Gillian. \u2018The house captures nostalgia for everyone.\u2019<\/p>\n