Hidden depths

Much to their delight, Danni and George Jackson-Stops discovered that their compact two-up two-down had far more potential than they first realised

- ANNA TOBIN

Three years ago, Danni and George Jackson-Stops took on what looked from the outside to be a traditional two-rooms downstairs, two-rooms upstairs Victorian terrace. The couple had spent a while searching for a period refurbishment project in south-west London. ‘We had carried out renovations before and we didn’t feel it made sense to pay more for a refurbished home that was to someone else’s taste,’ explains Danni.

With its avocado bathrooms and dated decor, this house was exactly what they were looking for, but they didn’t realise just how much potential there was until after their offer had been accepted.

George, who runs property search firm GJS Property, discovered through a colleague that the house had a hidden basement. ‘The estate agent told us that the property had a small inaccessible cellar,’ explains George, ‘but I discovered that the house had a basement running almost the entire footprint of the property. This meant that we only needed to dig down another metre to create full-height rooms and we would only need planning permission for a light well at the front of the house.’