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Rennovating a detached 19th century house

Celebrity chef James Martin has transformed a run-down student house into a comfortable country retreat

Reproduced from February 07 issue of Good Homes magazine, this month's issue on sale now. Subscribe now and save 40 per cent

House fact file

The property: A detached home in Hampshire Built in: Built in 1870, extended in 1920 and renovated in 2006 Bedrooms: Three Bathrooms: Two Buying price: £600,000 in 2005 Improvements made: Knocked through ground-floor rooms, installed new kitchen, rewired, replastered and new windows fitted Now worth: When all renovations are complete, approx £1.6 to £1.8 million

Who lives here?
'I'm James Martin, 34, a chef and occasional ballroom dancer. I live here with my one-year-old clumber spaniel, called Fudge.'

What was the appeal of this house?
'The location sold it to me. It felt like it was miles from anywhere, yet within commuting distance of London where I spend a lot of my time working on different TV projects. Although I have a property in London, I'm a country lad at heart. Putting my own stamp on the place was important - especially in the kitchen - and this house needed a lot renovation. The well-sized garden meant I could grow my own vegetables and, being a bit of a car freak, still have enough space for an eight-bay garage to house my growing collection of motors."

First impressions?
'The house was a rabbit warren of small dark rooms that hadn't been maintained very well. The previous owners had rented it out to students, the layout was hopeless, the decor a nightmare and practically everything needed to be replaced.

I could see the house had loads of potential and knew other buyers would think the same. After my first viewing I immediately put in an offer and was over the moon when it was accepted.'

What have you done?
'My other properties have been investments rather than homes, but I plan to stay in this one for a very long time. Therefore careful thought was necessary to decide what needed to be done and how to tackle it in stages. The main priority, however, was to sort out the kitchen. Filming had been scheduled to take place in my kitchen within a couple of months of me moving in - so the heat was literally on!

To make the area more spacious and suitable for filming, the builders knocked through several of the small rooms in the house to open up the space. Professional kitchen appliances and extractor fans, which you'd expect in a working kitchen, were also needed. I really didn't want it to look like an industrial kitchen - after all, this is my home.'

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