Looking for New England

Sally and Greg Hobden were inspired by classic American interior design when doing up their typically Edwardian south London terrace – and it works…

- ANDREA CHILDS, LISA FAZZANI

Hallway

‘I’m obsessed with panelling!’ says Sally. ‘I’m drawn to New England decor, which uses a lot of wood on the walls. When American houses are done well, they look amazing and that’s the look I wanted. This house lent itself so well to it.’

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Clad wall-to-wall in panelling, from the hallway up to the bedrooms, and painted in soothing shades of off-white, the interior of Sally and Greg Hobden’s Edwardian terrace is more Cape Cod than south London. The house was built in 1906 as part of an estate in the capital. ‘We have the original sales brochure, which gave buyers a choice of features,’ says Greg. ‘We were fortunate, because the first owners chose some pretty fancy architraves and stained glass.’

More than 100 years later, the property’s spacious hallway (described in the original patter as ‘large enough to take tea in’) was still a unique selling point. ‘We both fell in love with it because it’s such a change from the usual narrow hallways typical of these properties,’ says Sally. The floorplan had barely changed since the house was built. ‘There was a reception room at the front, plus another at the rear, with a dated kitchen and a bathroom in the middle. Instead of extending into the side return, we knocked down the wall between the kitchen and front room to create a dual-aspect kitchen-diner, with a bay window on to the street and doors to the garden. The downstairs bathroom become a utility room.’ Upstairs, the couple turned the fifth bedroom into an en suite for the main bedroom.