Simple but sophisticated

‘We’d already renovated one house, and weren’t really looking to move,’ says Anouk Gerardu. ‘But when we heard on the grapevine that this house a couple of streets away was for sale, we couldn’t resist taking a look. The house was built in 1946 and is set in a leafy neighbourhood. Although it was in need of major renovation, we could see so many possibilities.

‘Our plan was to extend the attic space to create two large rooms, and add an extension to the back and side of the building, to open up the ground floor and create a large, open-plan space.