American beauty

Mark and Kerry Yates have transformed their 1960s home, taking weatherboarded New England architecture as their primary inspiration

WORDS JANE BOWLES PHOTOS COLIN POOLE

Before the renovation

Like many city dwellers, Kerry and Mark Yates had long dreamt of exchanging their urban location for a more tranquil setting in the countryside. Back in 2010, they decided to make their fantasy a reality and moved out to the Chilterns, a 40-minute commute to central London. “We rented initially, and started out by looking exclusively at country cottages, ” says Kerry. “We didn’t find anything suitable, so we broadened our search to include more modern houses.”

Lucky find

After searching for over a year, Mark and Kerry finally found their current home – a spacious seven-bedroom detached dwelling with a substantial garden, built in the 1960s. “The exterior of the property was far from appealing, which initially put us off viewing it, ” says Kerry. “But the interior had been completely refurbished, so we decided to think again and discovered that the house actually ticked a lot of boxes. We’d gotten to know the location and liked it, and our children were well settled in the local school.”

The couple were drawn to the house’s high ceilings and generous proportions. “The previous owners had installed new bathrooms throughout, as well as a new kitchen, ” says Kerry. The pair realised that apart from opening up a doorway between the playroom and study and repainting the kitchen units, the interior needed little work.

Outside, however, it was a different matter. “The house’s exterior looked boxy and dated, with unattractive cream render and oldfashioned double glazing, ” says Kerry. “It lacked symmetry and had an unimpressive entrance, plus an ugly-looking flat roof area.” Despite their initial misgivings, Kerry and Mark went ahead with the purchase with a plan to refurbish the property and a budget set aside to do so.