This Harrogate home has had a fabulous update

Homes that need little or no work are now more prized than ever by buyers who are time-poor. They would rather spend their weekends on pleasurable pursuits rather than on stressful renovation projects. Adam Lloyd couldn’t think of anything worse. He loves a “do-er upper” and the more challenging the better.

Adding value through hard graft has helped him and his wife, Claire, climb the property ladder. The couple have tackled a number of renovations but the most recent is one of their greatest triumphs. They have turned a dated 1930s detached house in Harrogate into a stunning home suitable for modern life.

Its good looks have landed it a place on the books of Yorkshire-based agency Lifestyle Locations, which sources properties suitable for everything from photo to film shoots. Adam and Claire bought the house five years ago when their twin son and daughter were just three months old. “It had belonged to an elderly couple who had lived there for a long time and they hadn’t done anything much to it for about 40 years and that’s exactly what we were looking for,” says Adam.

While most parents of newborns would have baulked at knocking down walls, along with replumbing and rewiring, the Lloyds coped admirably. The biggest change made to the four-bedroom home was to combine the kitchen and dining area into one large, open-plan space. This involved losing the original kitchen.

“One of my strongest memories of that time is Claire cooking and washing up in a tiny cloakroom that we’d rigged up as a temporary kitchen. It consisted of a very small sink and an electric cooker that we’d wired up,” says Adam, who meanwhile was working hard on the redesign and modernisation work.

He is co-founder and creative director of Harrogate-based Shift Brand, a design and brand strategy agency. “I love getting hands-on with a renovation, which includes using my design skills, finding tradespeople, sourcing and doing some of the work myself,” he says.

Adam redesigned the entrance hall, which had a large cloakroom that restricted the movement of the front door. There is now a hall with floor tiles from Topps, plus a smaller cloakroom and a boot room. The original 1930s panelling has been preserved but painted to give it a more contemporary look.

Adam also designed the kitchen, which was made by Ross Vickers of Harrogate-based Contemporary Cabinets. It is painted in Farrow & Ball’s Cornforth White.

The island in Cornflower Blue is multi-functional thanks to integrated storage cupboards and a recess for 1930s draughtsman’s chairs. Above are Art Deco Opaline lights.

Upstairs, no expense was spared on the house bathroom, which was enlarged by stealing space from one of the bedrooms. It is tiled in viola marble from Mandarin Stone with a stone bath and sink from Lusso Stone based in Stockton-on-Tees.

The sink is housed in a cabinet with brass inlay from Swoon, which echoes Art Nouveau style. “We spent a huge amount of money on that room but it was worth it. We love it,” says Adam.

The main bedroom features period-style panelling that Adam found as a kit on eBay. It is painted in Farrow & Ball’s Pink Ground. The sofa is from Sofa Workshop and the bedside tables are made from leftover bathroom tiles set on gold hairpin legs.

The bentwood pendant light is by Tom Raffield and all the sockets and light switches are from Leeds-based Dowsing & Reynolds. The guest bedroom ensuite has a space-saving sliding door that hangs on a brass runner. The room was also treated to an antique French bed that Adam found on eBay and had reupholstered. The carpets are from KD Carpets in Harrogate.

Almost all the rooms feature Adam’s antique finds. Buying and selling antiques helped generate an income while he was at university. “I’ve always collected antiques and I traded from an antiques centre in Leek for three or four years when I was young and I loved it but when I moved to Yorkshire I concentrated on my design career,” says Adam, who has recently resurrected his first business. He now trades online as www.adamlloydinteriors.com and sells everything from 17th century furniture to mid-century modern and industrial items and farm finds.

Dugdills machinist lamps, factory chairs and barristers cabinets are among the items on his site. “That love of hunting for antiques, sometimes restoring them and selling them to someone who appreciates them as much as you do never leaves you and I am really enjoying being back in the trade,” he says.

With no DIY or project managing to do, he and Claire and twins Maxwell and Robyn now have more time as a family but they aren’t ruling out another move. They bought the property for £630,000 in 2015 and have spent £120,000 on it. It is now worth £950,000, which could take them another rung up the property ladder.

“We love the house and the area is perfect and I think we will stay here but we tend to get itchy feet and we are always looking for the next project,” says Adam. “The big dream is to self-build.”

The Yorkshire Post would like to thank Lifestyle Locations for its help in sourcing this Real Home. Lifestyle Locations is an agency dedicated to providing a diverse range of locations available to hire across Yorkshire and the North West. All can be hired for advertising, filming, photography, TV shoots and promotional events. www.lifestylelocations.co.uk*Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

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