Living below stairs

In one of the most splendid of Regency squares in Cheltenham is a Grade 2 listed 1830s townhouse, of which the garden apartment is home to Jennie and Ian MacLean.
 
They first came to see it three years ago, having decided to move from London. “And we were a bit startled to find a rabbit in a cage in what is now the study while the little courtyard at the back was just sterile,” says Jennie. “There was nothing in it and it was dingy and covered in pigeon droppings.”

However the flat had a distinct charm, despite the ugly Victorian fireplace in the drawing room, as there were still some period features left.

“Not many,” says Jennie. “As being on the lowest floor it was always the servants’ quarters and didn’t qualify for elaborate decor in the way of cornicing and ceiling roses. However we do have some of the original sash windows and built-in cupboards in the main bedroom and sitting room.”

“We could see it had lots of potential,” says Ian, a retired surveyor. “The conversion had been done extremely well five years ago – we’d seen scores while looking for a home, and two thirds of them had been ruined by crude adaptations.”

A huge attraction was that there was so much storage space, some of it built into the walls of the courtyard and more under the steps outside their front door.

Fortunately Ian, a former joiner, found it easy to tank and waterproof all these cupboards. He also put down laminated wooden floors in the bedroom and sitting room while Jennie, a health worker with a strong artistic streak, set about capturing the Regency spirit of the place.

You can read more about Ian and Jennie's apartment in January's issue of Cotswold Life.

---