My Modern House: Chris and Susannah Burke on updating their 1960s modernist house in Suffolk for the 21st century
It’s
high summer at Chris and Susannah Burke’s 1960s modernist home in Suffolk and
original architect Birkin Haward’s design couldn’t look any more seductive. The
sun is shining, the doors are open and the surrounding foliage is in full
bloom. Over coffee and a walk-around, Chris and Susannah share the story of how
they comprehensively renovated the Grade II-listed house to make it a
comfortable, liveable home for them and their two children.
Susannah: “Independently we both saw the house advertised in the local paper, a tiny two-by-two listing with a picture of the house. We came home that night and said, ‘Did you see that unusual house in the paper?”
Chris: “The photo in the advert was of the back of the house, with that elegant gull-wing profile. We hadn’t seen anything like it, especially not around here in rural Suffolk. As a surveyor myself, the design really captured my eye, so, in all honesty, a viewing was arranged just to satisfy our curiosity …. and before we knew it, we had put in an offer and bought it.”
Susannah: “In stark contrast to our traditional farmhouse family home, the space and light of the open plan design was so appealing, and actually so contemporary even though it was built seven decades ago.”
Chris: “The architect, Birkin Haward, bought an acre of land, a hidden away wooded spinney, in the late 1950s and managed to create a home and workplace for himself and his family. He worked locally and was particularly interested in bringing modern design to public buildings at a time when Britain was still rebuilding from the war, so there remain a few examples around in the form of schools and libraries.”
Susannah: “He designed the building as an upside-down house, so all the main living space was upstairs, and the ground floor was utility and studio space, as he practised from here too. Certainly of its time, the materials used reflected the commercial buildings he worked on and the house was constructed without any of the green credentials expected today.”
Chris: “And it was cold! Most of the internal pine-boarded and plaster walls were without insulation whist the outer skin had the bare minimum – most of the windows were single glazed so the original oil boiler was basically just pumping heat into the atmosphere.”
“We
really had to take it back to a shell to make it liveable and sustainable. At
first, we put a new highly insulated roof on and then we replaced 167 bespoke
sealed window units – quite a challenge as we were living here at the time with
our school-aged children, and I remember it being a particularly wet autumn
that year! The second phase required us to vacate for six months whilst the
main structure was exposed to install new electrics and plumbing plus an air
source heating system.”
Susannah: “We wanted to make our house as eco-friendly as possible within the confines of the listed status – liaising with the planners and building control was a challenge at times but they supported our changes in the end. This retained the majority of the original features but allowed new rooms and bathrooms to be installed with complementary contemporary styling.”
Chris: “From the outside it looks very much the same, set in its secluded woodland plot, but we were able to add a large paved terrace at the back that really adds to the inside/outside living through large sliding doors.”
Susannah: “What we love about the house is its volume and sense of space. There are different living areas in the house, which we use throughout the year to suit our mood, whether it’s to enjoy the garden views or to cosy up by the wood burner in the winter months.
“We
lived in a traditional farmhouse before and, in terms of entertaining, this is
so much easier, allowing for larger social gatherings to make full use of the
open space. This house has enhanced that side of our lives for the whole
family, although at times we do have to be sensitive to competing activities in
the central hall when TV watching and quiet dining don’t always work well
together!”
Chris: “The children have loved growing up here because they could always have friends over with loads of room to crash if they wanted their friends to sleepover. It can be a very busy house at times but it’s a real pleasure to be able to share it with friends and family, something that we enjoy more and more.”
Susannah: “We are very happy with what we’ve been able to achieve here, the life we’ve been able to lead and the environment we created for our family – we always wanted it to work as well for our children as it has for us. The trouble now is, will we ever be able to leave? Probably not, the kids would never forgive us!”
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