A period home transformed for modern living

City life bustles by this handsome house in southwest London, but a different mood prevails as you cross the long garden at the back, which borders the Thames. “It’s as though you’ve been transported to a more peaceful world,” says Claire Botha, who lives in the Victorian home with her husband, Andy, and their four children. “Swans fly overhead – you can hear their wings before you see them. It is quite magical. In the spring and summer, being in the garden is like being on holiday. We jump straight off the pontoon into the water. Sometimes we paddleboard down the river, and take a bottle of wine with us.”

Claire was reluctant to view this house when she and Andy were on the hunt several years ago. Once they had made the decision to find a larger home for their blended family, she was adamant that any new place had to be really special. “I wasn’t feeling particularly open to looking at properties,” she recalls. “But the minute I walked in, I loved it. I knew I wanted to live here.”

She was smitten by the grand entrance hall, with its polished oak flooring and a graceful curved staircase leading to the upper floors. And the house continued to impress. “It has very high ceilings, beautiful marble fireplaces and these stunning original cherrywood doors,” says Claire. “Then there was the garden – and the view. On the opposite bank is Ham Lands nature reserve, which can never be built on, so you look out to trees and green space.”

Claire and Andy bought the house from a family who had lived there for more than 40 years. “The basement was a separate flat with its own front door, so it wasn’t really suited to modern family living,” says Claire. “There was no utility room or downstairs loo, and it had a galley kitchen.” Today, however, this is a wonderful family home of 4,677 square feet, with three reception rooms, five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a home cinema, a gym and an office. In the garden, down by the river, a boathouse with a pontoon offers private mooring.

Turning the property back into one cohesive home was a substantial renovation job, but one that Claire, founder of the interior design company Geek Vintique, relished. “The biggest job was moving the staircase that led to the basement from the middle of the entrance hall,” she says. Claire also worked with a local stained-glass craftsman to renovate the arched front doors and fanlight: “I love things with provenance. I feel we are merely custodians and so must do what we can to look after places with history.”

Claire transformed the basement into a light-filled space that, along with the cinema and gym, features a large family room and a utility room with storage for muddy boots and outdoor gear.

The ground floor is for entertaining. The reception room spans one side of the house and, with its period mouldings and statement fireplace, is an elegant room for receiving guests. Next door, in an open-plan space, the former galley kitchen has been replaced by a chic modern version, with one wall clad in slivers of local stone. At the other side of the island is the dining area, which easily fits a table for 10 and is filled with light from three original sash windows.

Up the elegant staircase, which leads to two more floors, are the bedrooms, three of which open onto a balcony with riverside views. “It really is beautiful waking up to views of the garden and the river through the bedroom window – and to the sound of rowers from the local club passing by,” says Claire. “The first-floor balcony runs the length of the house, so it is a huge space for sunbathing.”

Now that most of their four children have flown the nest, the couple are looking to downsize. “We don’t need a bedroom for each child any more, so it’s time to hand this home over to another family,” says Claire. “But our move will have to be to a house as special as this one.”

Pictures from top: the light-filled kitchen-dining room; the graceful staircase in the entrance hall; the ground-floor reception room; and the deck giving onto the River Thames