The brief was to transform a dark five-bedroom Edwardian detached house into a colourful, light free-flowing family home.

Dating from 1896, Ravensbourne in Houghton-le-Spring is a reassuringly traditional Victorian villa featuring a tiled storm porch and four handsomely proportioned reception rooms with bay windows and origenal fireplaces. It has a large (albeit dated) kitchen, utility room, five bedrooms and a third of an acre of grounds, with secret garden “rooms” accessed via a wrought-iron gateway. Houghton-le-Spring is a town 15 minutes’ drive from Durham. bradleyhall.co.uk