It’s been quite the journey for 64 Clapham Common Northside, one of the oldest houses still standing, that seems to go back to some point in the 1780s, when it was a country cottage in the fields. We first reported on it back in February, as an interesting and unusual ‘project’ house, one which had been empty for well over a decade. But it was also at the time being proposed for demolition, to make way for a modern house on the same site. The more the story gained attention, the more people investigated the history of the house – and the more we all realised that this was a properly original property! A very neglected and dilapidated one, for sure, but one with an unusually long history.
The planning application, being taken forward by the developers selling the property, didn’t get approved. We wrote about it again in June, noting that the house had yet again escaped demolition. The planning department official’s report was a classic of the genre, doing a bit of a demolition job of its own in comprehensively unpicking many of the arguments put forward to justify demolishing the building. The future of the house was nonetheless still a bit uncertain at the time though, as while demolition was off the table, it needed a fair bit of work and investment to get back to a habitable state.
Obviously the house always had stacks of potential, as a properly unique character property with plenty of charm, and sweeping views over Clapham Common. If, that is, the right people could find it and fall in love with it, rather than seeing it as a bit of clearable land to build a mansion on! Well the good news is that that seems to be exactly what’s happened. Who knows, maybe the extensive local attention it got thanks to us and others helped.
We’ve met the new owners, and we’re pleased to confirm that they’re properly interested in the history of the house, that they plan to live there rather than seeing this as a project to patch up and sell on, and are going to try to bring it back in to use in a sensitive way that brings the accommodation up to safe, comfortable modern standards without bulldozing the aspects that give this property its rather unique charm. Having explored the building in detail, and dealt with the sorts of headaches you immediately pick up on taking over a ruin like burst pipes and collapsing roofs, they have devised a plan to get it back in to a habitable state. They have subsequently applied for planning permission for works to the house, and some of the photos and illustrations in this article are from that planning application.
Obviously a key issue with the house is that it has been empty for absolutely ages! The big hole in the roof that we have previously reported on has done what holes in the roof usually do, and made a complete mess of the lower floors. Its also clear, looking at the interior, that the original internal design is long gone, leaving a dilapidated interior that was maybe last updated on the cheap in the early 1970s.
The new owners have explored the history of the property in some detail, which is reflected in the material submitted for consultation as part of the planning application for work to bring the house back in to use. This has revealed a few new old illustrations of the house, including this one from Lambeth’;’s archives which shows Northside (the later big manor house that was built, and which is now long-gone), with 64 Clapham Common Northside visible attached to the right hand side of it, right at the right hand edge of the picture shown below.
They’ve found an old map in the Parish records of St Mary’s church, which includes the larger house as well as the unusual layout of its very large garden, which as we wrote back in February was rather oddly shaped with a long passageway that ran round the back of the house next door to provide another access to the street with stables.
There’s also this illustration, which shows the big house and the attached older cottage as seen from Clapham Common. There’s a bit of doubt about which bit of the old house and cottage corresponds to the surviving property, and whether some or all of it was rebuilt in 1812. To add to the challenge, the old illustrations and maps sometimes take a bit of creative liberty, and aren’t all consistent with each other!
The works now being proposed seem, to us, to be sensible and proportionate. From the front, the look of the property will remain broadly as it is, although the roof will be raised to accommodate more space. It seems unlikely that the current roof is original, so this isn’t a great loss, and the house will retain its smaller-than-the-neighbours, original cottage appearance. The plan extract below shows the current roof height (red dotted line) and the proposed new one.
The back of the property will see the sort of mansard-type extension that is typical of the houses around Lavender Hill. These rear mansard extensions aren’t in keeping with any particular historic style, but then neither are any of the many other similar extensions on the street (almost every house has one!). The real value of this house is its appearance as seen from the Common, not from back gardens, so we don’t expect this to be controversial.
There’ll also be a small extension in to the back yard, to slightly increase the ground floor living space. The image below (which it’s worth bearing in mind is a sketch using architectural software, not a precise rendering of the end product) shows how the overall shape will evolve.
The planning application for these new changes has had a handful of comments, and in contrast to the previous application to demolish everything, this more modest proposal is seeing general support. One neighbour, who notes they have followed this building’s history for a long time, comments that we must have something done to the building, and we have only just managed to have it saved from demolishment. They feel the plan makes a lot of sense and results in very little alterations to the building – yet will mean it is saved. They like the proposed new additions to the back of the property, which seem to be set back and even if are visible will be of architectural interest, noting that the long track record of enormous extensions others in the area means they can’t see why it should be an issue to do this more modest approach.
Another notes that the plans preserve the important surviving elements of the old house, including the main side entrance and doorway, the front elevation and roof frontage, and some stone flag flooring to the hallway. They recognise that this is a difficult building to enlarge for family use, but feel the applicants have designed a scheme that largely retains the original frontage appearance and most of the important elements of the building in a sensitive way. Another person commented that it seems that this proposal is exactly what we were hoping for – a sensitive revival of building which is unusual, that the designs look attractive and will make a positive contribution to the area, and that the application seems to keep the big change to a minimum, meaning the works will be far less disruptive than having the house demolished or a basement dug. One wishes the new owners the best of luck.
So this mini series (here and there) on 64 Clapham Common Northside looks set for a happy ending. This small and unassuming house has more history than most, and has been through a lot of changes, as country cottage, dairy, staff quarters, and many more functions – and as the new owners note, has been adjusted and adapted over its lifetime to accommodate the servants, cows, booksellers, bricklayers, gardeners, doctors and other local notables who lived there over the years. Above all, this is the little house that refused to die – more than once! The support of its many neighbours and – by the looks of it – its proud new owners, mean it’s survived again. We’re pleased to see it looks set to keep going for another generation while keeping a bit of our local history alive.
The first article we wrote about this house is here, and the second (which has a lot more abut the history of the building, and also covers the previous planning application to demolish the building) is here. The new owners’ planning case is number 2024/2558, it’s open for comment on Wandsworth planning website until the 11th September (though later comments are often also taken in to account).
This article was originally published on lavender-hill.uk.
