Height of style

Euan and Deian’s sophisticated apartment went from one-level to two and is now the spacious home of their dreams

- Jenny Tucker

LIVING ROOM

This social area is where cocktails are mixed, songs are sung and friends join in with the frivolities.

Royal Blue sofa, Roche Bobois. Vintage turquoise sofa, Two Columbia Road. Butterfly cushion, Liberty London. Gold pedestal, Jonathan Adler. Heal’s mid-century cabinet, sourced from Hayloft

When you know, right through to your verycore, that you’ve found the home you want to buy, you pull out all the stops to see it through. No one understands this commitment to a property better than Euan MacLennan and Deian Rhys who, during the same year (2008), got married and bought this penthouse apartment with views for miles.

At the time, it looked nothing like it does now. In fact, half of it didn’t even exist. But the pair were adamant it would be theirs. ‘Well, I needed a bit of convincing,’ admits Euan. ‘I was desperate to live somewhere with outside space. And back then, this flat was just a single floor. But Deian is pretty visionary and he saw the possibilities.’

The secret to the apartment’s potential was a dusty, but vast, attic space, jammed with the communal water tanks for the entire five-storey house. Even though an attic might not seem like an attractive acquisition, this one offered the possibility of an extra level to their home. Euan and Deian approached the other residents in the building, requesting to buy the attic and to design an alternative hub for the tanks.

In theory, it was an exciting proposition, but the reality wasn’t as straightforward. The pair lived in the flat for five years, while continually pushing for permission to extend. They barely touched a paintbrush, knowing that if plans went through, they would want to radically make over the space. It was an exercise in patience, perseverance, and more than a little uncertainty.