Mum transforms 70s house into mini 'stately home' - adding £1.7m to its value (original) (raw)

Claire Totman, 38, bought the three bedroom property off market with her mum, Liz, 71, for £875k. The designer had a vision to recreate the outdated property into a "elegant" and "timeless" home

Claire Totman

A designer transformed a 1970s house into a mini 'stately home' - and added £1.7m to its value.

Claire Totman, 38, bought the three bedroom property off market with her mum, Liz, 71, for £875k. The designer had a vision to recreate the outdated property into a "elegant" and "timeless" home. She spent £460k and eight months extending the house at the side, back and roof to create four large bedrooms, and an additional drawing room.

Now the mum-of-two says the house has been valued at £2.6m. Claire, director of Claire Totman designs, from Weybridge, Surrey, said: "The original house is still there. People think it is a new build. Our style is classic, traditional and a modern twist.

"It elegant and timeless. We don't follow the trends, because a trend is a trend." Claire had been interested in design ever since she was young and built her way up to become a design manager. But when the company she worked for went under, Claire took the opportunity to start her own business in summer 2016.

Claire Totman’s 1970s home before the £470K renovation (

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Claire Totman/SWNS)

She transformed the 1970s house into a mini 'stately home' (

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Claire Totman / SWNS)

Claire had helped design three of her mum's previous homes but had a big vision when they bought Sandacre house off market in October 2019 for £875k. She said: "The original house is 1972. It only had one owner. It's on a large plot. I look at it and I have the vision in my head. I look at what needs to be achieved."

Claire started the renovations in February 2020 and kept the structure of the original house. Claire said: "We extended at the rear and side. We replaced the windows and built a porch. We took off the roof structure and replaced it to allow habitable space. We did a nice gut job inside."

Claire spent £460k on all the renovations in 2020 - but says she was able to get cheaper costs through her design business. She said the industry is completely different post Covid. She said: "I buy everything through the business. Now you would be looking a double."

The kitchen at Claire's home pre-renovation (

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Claire Totman/SWNS)

The home is now unrecognisable (

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Claire Totman/SWNS)

Claire says the project has become an "iconic" photo and draws clients to her. She said: "They come to you because this is what they want." Claire says her mum "loves" the house. She said: "She loved it. There's loads of space for us to come around. She's one of the lucky baby boomers. She did well on property. She bought her first for £6k."