Interior design masters at work

WHEN interior designers Vanessa Hawkins and Ashley Cadd stumbled across Salford's `best-kept secret' five years ago, little did they realise what a good investment they had made.

At the time their friends thought they were mad to buy a dilapidated Victorian terrace in `The Cliff', the conservation area surrounding Manchester United's old training ground.

Having transformed the boarded-up property into a stylish, contemporary home, the couple are now looking to sell it for offers over £300,000, a price that reflects the steady growth in popularity of this unassuming urban backwater.

Also pushing up property prices is a development of new townhouses at nearby Broughton Green that is commanding a £500,000 price tag on homes that haven't even been built yet.

Desirable

"More and more people are recognising that this is a desirable place to live," explains Ashley, who used to manage an estate agency before joining forces with Vanessa Hawkins Design.

"We are so close to the city centre but this is like an urban retreat. We live on a leafy road and our house is elevated so we have a great view over the city.

"The Cliff has real character in the imposing period properties, York stone flags on the pavement and old street lamps. It's an established area that is attracting lots of young, creative people, like Manchester's answer to Notting Hill."

The house had been empty for two years before the couple came along and recognised the enormous potential to create a modern home.

"The place was a complete wreck," remembers Ashley. "It had been turned into seven bed-sits and it wasn't a pretty sight. As all the windows were covered in hardboard I had to look around with a torch.

"The only rooms I could view properly were on the top floor, as they hadn't been boarded up. I could see that it needed a lot of work doing to it but at the asking price, it wasn't much of a risk."

Although Ashley and Vanessa had established themselves as a successful interior design team co-ordinating whole house makeovers, they hadn't any experience of renovation at this grass-roots scale.

Taking the bull by the horns, Ashley moved in first to try and make the place habitable: "It was February and there was no hot water or central heating and with most of the windows knocked out, it was decidedly chilly.

Bespoke

"I had no real knowledge of property renovation so I was learning as I went along. If you are practical minded, it's amazing what you can turn your hand to and I tackled most of the jobs myself."

The couple approached the renovation room by room. For the kitchen, Ashley had bought the ex-demonstration units from John Lewis before he moved into the house and created a bespoke look by teaming them up with wooden work surfaces and splash backs made from safety glass. It has the feel of a real cook's kitchen, not surprising as Ashley once trained as a chef.

Throughout the house, Ashley repaired and restored all the old sash windows, sanded and polished the original floorboards, re-plastered the walls and gave them a liberal coating of white emulsion to emphasise the lofty ceilings and decorative mouldings.

"Our intention was to make the most of the space and light," says Ashley. "We had come from a 17th century cottage with low beams and dark rooms so we were celebrating the fact that this house was so opposite. We used mirrors to reflect light and contemporary fluorescent lights to add colour and ambience."

Ashley designed the glass dining table on a base of kerbstones and fence posts and even made huge planters from slabs of concrete paving stone.

Keeping the walls predominantly white throughout, Vanessa painted huge canvases full of colour and texture to create focal points for each room and the landing areas.

Impact

In the first floor lounge, which the couple chose because of its elevated outlook, Vanessa recreated one of her favourite paintings - Night Hawks by Hopper - on a grand scale to give the room dramatic impact.

The early 1970s Pieff leather sofas and swivel chair, which Ashley bought from a second-hand shop in Whalley Range for a princely £120, set the tone for a retro feel.

Vanessa and Ashley's love of eclecticism is very much in evidence in this room as their own glass and steel tables sit comfortably with a Tibetan cabinet dating back to the 1880s and a wall arrangement of Vietnamese bowls made from bamboo strips.

Over the cast-iron bed in a guest room, the ceiling has been decorated with a moody Turner-esque sky and swathes of silk curtains hang from the windows.

It is in the master bedroom on the top floor where there is a melting pot of styles and influences.

One wall is devoted to a collection of ethnic masks picked up from doing their work. Under the window is an original 1940s G-Plan dressing table and stool from a second-hand shop.

Ashley has also designed furniture for the room including a wall of modern made-to-measure wardrobes and a window seat on top of a built-in entertainment console covered in grey felt that holds the television, video and Skybox.

"I enjoy making things to my own design," says Ashley. Having worked their way through each floor of the house, refitting bathrooms and creating a utility room and working office in the basement, Ashley and Vanessa's last project was the garden.

Replacing a window in the back reception room with French doors, they had access onto their courtyard garden that is filled with lush plants, interesting pieces of quarry stone. Ashley says: "The idea was to create a strong architectural look that was easy to maintain."

Artistry

Having transformed a rundown shell of a house into a vibrant home that has become an expression of their artistry, Ashley and Vanessa are now keen to move on to the next project. The couple are selling the house themselves and, in less than a week, Ashley has had over 30 calls.

"The furniture and artwork has been created especially to fit this space so we would be delighted if someone wanted to come along and buy the house as it stands. Our design ideas have evolved in this house and now we feel it is time to move on."

408 Lower Broughton Road, Salford is for sale through Vanessa Hawkins Design for offers over £300,000 on 07778 621389

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