At the top of Highgate Hill an old white house faces the entrance to Waterlow Park and overlooks the distant city of London beyond. Its unassuming frontage could be easy to miss, nestled between two much larger more recent buildings on either side and some of the illustrious properties found in the neighbourhood. But behind this little white facade lies a fascinating piece of London history, which MW Architects have gently uncovered and bought back to life.
When MW Architects were approached, the property was in need of some tender love and care. The old bones of the early 18th Century building were weary and many of the floors and walls were bulging alarmingly. The last set of renovations, undertaken some time in the 1970s, had only made the situation worse by opening up some walls at first floor putting extra stress on the old timber frames. Yet hiding under the 70s decoration and behind the modern furniture and joinery the original timber panelling and floorboards were found. Following some urgent structural acupuncture the historic features were able to be revealed giving a sense of what the interiors would have been like in the early 18th Century when the property was, for a while, the Nags Head pub, the sort of place that may have been frequented by Dick Turpin or patrons who had sworn on the horns to dedicate themselves to merriment and debauchery.
