Home Style: Edwardian Elegance

A design alchemy of classic, contemporary, bold and restrained brings an original spin to this Edwardian home, stylishly updated for modern living 

We’ve always been up for a challenge when it comes to renovating property,” admitted Crawford Cooper-Prentice as he reflected on the various ambitious projects he and husband Gareth have embraced over the years. 

Crawford’s career in finance meant that the couple were frequently uprooting to various locations both here and overseas, and with that came the opportunity to indulge their passion for interior design, creating beautiful, unique homes wherever they happened to be. 

“Over time, our sense of style has evolved, but we’ve always aimed to combine a strong design aesthetic with sound practicalities,” he explained. “While I tend to concentrate on the look – with some ideas vetoed by Gareth, I should add! – he takes on the majority of the hard graft when it comes to the renovation and project management. It works well.” 

Nevertheless, despite their extensive experience, when the couple originally decided to invest in their next property in 2019, the criteria was different. “We had agreed – or rather, Gareth had persuaded me – that we wouldn’t take on another big renovation project this time,” Crawford laughed. “We were based on Jersey at the time, and our original intention was to buy a little place for relaxing breaks, which wouldn’t need much work. Famous last words!” 

The pair already knew and loved the historic harbour town having lived there twice over the years (“we’re like yo-yo’s – we keep coming back!”), and Crawford flew over to view a handful of properties ‘with a very specific brief from Gareth. By chance, this one had come on the market that weekend, and it looked interesting. 

The Edwardian house is one of three in a terrace built by the town’s coal merchant for himself and his two offspring back in 1910, and approached via a series of steep steps. “I immediately liked the traditional frontage of the house which still had its original features,” Crawford said, “but inside it was very tired, and clearly needed a significant renovation to bring it up to scratch. 

“Despite that, it ticked most of the boxes, from being south-facing with great views to having its own parking space – a bonus here.” He paused.“I think when I reported back to Gareth, I may have undersold the fact that it needed a lot of work...” 

Nevertheless, the magic word ‘potential’ was to persuade the pair that this was the one, and by the time they’d completed on the sale in December 2019, ambitious plans were well underway. Needless to say, all the basics – from plumbing to electrics – needed a complete overhaul, but they also planned a major reconfiguration of the layout downstairs to create an open-plan space, with a new kitchen to one side, and a seamless extension for a butler’s pantry and shower room. 

Gareth based himself locally to work alongside their builder for the first few months, and all was going well. But then, the unforeseen happened. “As the Pandemic took hold, he had to quickly get back to Jersey before the borders closed and lockdown began,” Crawford recalled. “We stayed on the island until the first boat was allowed to leave it four months’ later... but by then, I’d got a posting overseas and we relocated to Malta. As you can imagine, managing the ongoing renovations from afar was far from easy: the process became much more complex and lengthier than we’d originally anticipated.” 

Weekly Zoom meetings with their trusted builder, along with a friend who visited the house regularly to take videos and photographs of the work’s progress, helped to keep things on track until restrictions were lifted, and the couple could at last begin to travel back and forth again. “Lockdown certainly gave us more time to research and source all the materials and items we required,” Crawford said. “We were very grateful for the patience of local pals who allowed us to arrange all sorts of deliveries to their homes.” 

Thanks to the many steps leading up to the front door, having items and materials conveyed directly to the house was not without its challenges, either – be it the incredibly heavy Italian marble slabs for the kitchen surfaces, or the landscaping materials required for the garden. “An especially tricky time was when we took delivery of the range cooker on Christmas Eve,” Crawford laughed at the memory. “It weighed so much, we had to call on several strong volunteers to help get it into the house so it could be installed. There’s nothing like family arriving for the festivities to create a sense of urgency!” 

It was, however, all worth it. By this time – two years after the couple had first got the keys – the house had undergone a remarkable transformation combining a carefully executed renovation with a dynamic decorative scheme. A cohesive palette of blue, green and pink, with shots of black and judicious use of white have been used throughout. 

“We’ve never painted walls white in any of our previous homes,” Crawford reflected, “but this time it made sense: not only does it emphasise the light, but it acts as a backdrop for our art, furniture, textiles and collections: as time has passed, our design and style decisions have become more focussed on the pieces we have and treasure: we want these to take centre stage, rather than the other way around, and hopefully we’ve achieved that here.” 

Having now made this characterful property their main home, it wouldbe understandable if this enterprising couple were to sit back to enjoy the fruits of their labours. But that interior design itch never quite goes away.“It’s always been a passion, and is such a creative contrast to the worldof finance,” Crawford admitted.

“I’ve started a new interior design enterprise building on our experiences on the many design projects we have completed. But we love it here and often say we’ll never take on another major renovation in the future... but somehow, I can’t quite swear to it!” 

Photography: living4media/Richard Gadsby 

Words: living4media/Sharon Parsons