Set designer transforms his Dulwich home with 110,000… along with a little creativity.

To the millions of enthralled fans of the Harry Potter films, Hogwarts Castle is every bit as real as the dashing young wizard himself.

But in fact many of the scenes featuring the castle were filmed using a 20ft-tall MDF model  -  painstakingly painted so that every brick and slate looked authentic.

Steve Fox is one of the team of artists who created the replica Hogwarts, and his skill in making the mundane look magical has been put to good use on his home. 

Modernist masterpiece: The house in Dulwich was created on a relatively frugal budget of 110,000, using the shell of an unexceptional period house

Steve and his wife Tracy live in an iconic modern house in South-East London which was created on a relatively frugal budget of 110,000, using the shell of an unexceptional period house. 

Transforming the property from dreary to dramatic took four years, and the results are a resounding success. But now the house in East Dulwich is on the market for 899,000 because the artistic family  -  Steve and Tracy have three children  -  are on the lookout for a new home with more studio space.

Creative licence: Steve and Tracey Fox are both trained artists

‘When we found the house it was dull, dull, dull,’ says Tracy, 50.

‘It had been changed around and we felt there was nothing worth saving. It was a collection of small rooms linked with a dark corridor and that was absolutely what we did not want.’

The family were already living locally, in a traditional Victorian house they had renovated with a view to selling on. They paid 165,000 for the neglected three-bedroom Edwardian semi in 2000.

Enlisting the assistance of architect Jeffrey James, they drew up plans to alter the property beyond recognition. To the couple’s astonishment, Southwark Council approved the ultra- modern scheme without a murmur.

All of the house’s traditional exterior features  -  the pitched roof and bay windows  -  have been squared off and are masked behind a coat of immaculate render.

There are now three street-facing windows, one square and two narrow slits, and the old-fashioned porch has been replaced by an angular lobby with a floating roof. As a finishing touch the facade has been painted petal-pink.

‘The obvious thing to do would be to paint it white  -  that is what an architect would have done  -  but we wanted a little bit of a twist,’ says Steve, 45. ‘The architecture is quite hard-edged and the pink does soften it.’

Tracy adds: ‘Our thinking was to create something simple. The ambition was to make it look like a child’s drawing or a pile of building blocks and as clean as possible.’

The couple  -  with their three children, Betty, now 20, and 13-year-old twins Alfy and Ruby  -  lived on the site for much of the four-year build, resorting at one point to climbing to their bedrooms via a ladder because the staircase had been removed.

‘We lived like gipsies,’ says Tracy.

If the outside is radical, the inside is a practical family home: a false wall along one side of the main living room hides acres of cupboards and a neat cloakroom. 

Clean lines: The living area is divided into zones, with a dining area, and kitchen/living room, which leads out, via French windows, on to a deck

‘Almost every wall you see in this house is a cupboard,’ said Tracy. ‘There is a place for everything. We are the only family we know which has half-empty cupboards.’

The living room is zoned into dining area, and kitchen/living room, which leads out, via French windows, on to a deck, with steps down into the garden.

One of the house’s statement features is a white, sculptural staircase which leads upstairs to the first floor and the three children’s bedrooms  -  one with a private and distinctly Mediterranean-feeling balcony  -  and family bathroom.

The master suite is on the top floor  -  another open-plan room divided by free-standing cupboards into sleeping area, dressing room and sitting room. There is also a wet room and another terrace with fabulous views over the garden across London.

Sleek: Even the bathroom makes a bold design statement

Steve and Tracy are trained artists, so a waist-high ledge has been installed throughout the house so that their not-inconsiderable collection of paintings, photographs and drawings can be displayed.

A deck leads out from the kitchen to the three-level garden; there are steps down to the lawn and a second set leads to a workshop. Its flat roof has been converted into a luxurious coop for the family’s three urban chickens.

The pair are selling to fulfil a desire to build a house from scratch and partly because Tracy is in the throes of a career change, after 12 years as a prop buyer in TV and film.

Her credits include the Ricky Gervais comedy Extras and the film Boogie Woogie. She is now studying furniture upholstery and needs more studio space if she is to work from home.

Steve, meanwhile, is still busy on film sets: his latest project is the next instalment of the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise. The house is being sold by estate agent The Modern House which specialises in contemporary architecture.

Director Matt Gibberd said: ‘This sort of house is a refreshing antidote to Victorian living, which is all about small spaces.’

In today’s straitened market, Mr Gibberd is doubtful whether a modernist house will command a financial premium over more traditional options, although the loft extension will inevitably add value.

But he believes a modern facelift can improve a home’s saleability. ‘One-offs are always going to attract more attention,’ he says.

‘This is a striking, iconic-looking house and the quality of materials is excellent.’
He suspects the property will go to a family attracted by its size and location as much as its style.

‘East Dulwich has a lot of green space and Dulwich village is very attractive, with good schools,’ he said. ‘It’s also more affordable than Hampstead.’

The Modern House (www.themodernhouse.net).

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<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-1305460/How-Harry-Potter-magic-helped-conjure-modernist-masterpiece.html?ito=feeds-newsxmltag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-1305460/How-Harry-Potter-magic-helped-conjure-modernist-masterpiece.html?ito=feeds-newsxmlMon, 23 Aug 2010 14:40:27 GMT 00:00″>How Harry Potter magic helped me conjure up my modernist masterpiece

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