Original Style: How a house was reborn into a home for a growing family

Bob Duffield and his family now live in this beautiful 19th century villa-style house – here’s his story of how they uncovered its best features and created a perfect home for them all.

Please tell us a little bit about your family and your house:

We moved to Cheltenham in the summer of 2013. We rented a modern duplex apartment and Frankie our son was born in June 2014. We always had an eye out for a place to buy but we took our time until we found the right place.

his turned out to be Paxton Lodge – a Grade II, four-bed Regency town house, with a separate basement flat.

Was it a major refurbishment project?

Definitely, we had to bring the house kicking and screaming into the 21st century. There were many species of carpet that had to go! The house needed substantial refurbishment. This included:
• Bringing the basement flat back into the main house as our main kitchen and dining area
• Transforming the galley kitchen on the ground floor into a play room
• Swapping a bedroom for the main bathroom and vice versa
• Stripping out the main bathroom & two en suite bathrooms
• Refitting and retiling them.

This house is so beautifully designed that we knew our efforts would be rewarded.

How important were the tiles and how/where did you source them?

Tiles were key to our design thinking. We found Original Style online and then visited a local showroom.

Tell us about shopping for tiles at the Original Style Showroom – how would you rate your experience?

Very highly. That’s why we want to tell our story. We got to know almost everyone in the store.

What advice would you give to other people who want to create tiled focal points in their homes?

Get the Original Style brochures – they are colourful and informative. Then visit your local store where you’ll get a good sense of how they look in real life.

Visit the newly refurbished Original Style Showroom at 2 Lister Close, Newnham Industrial Estate, Plympton, PL7 4BA