WORDS SOPHIE VENING PHOTOS THE HOUSE AGENCY/MATT CHISNALL
When Catherine and William Allen bought a 1960s detached property in Summertown, Oxford, they had the foresight to look beyond the dingy warren of rooms and crumbling two-storey extension falling off the back of the property. “The entire house was covered in nicotine and mildew stains – it was depressing,” says Catherine. “The whole place was full of books; an Oxford academic had lived and died there and he was clearly a hoarder. You couldn’t even see inside some of the rooms. My husband asked if I was joking when I said I wanted to buy it, but I could see it had potential.”