Ashendon Road
A Project By: Kabilo
Location: Hackney, London, United Kingdom
Project Summary:
Ashendon Road was a whole-house renovation of a dated Victorian terrace in Hackney. Kabilo refurbished every room, from the kitchen and bathroom to the bedrooms, living room and hallway, restored the period features, and added a rear extension and landscaped garden. The result keeps the character of the original house while bringing it fully up to date.
Project Detail:
Ashendon Road came to Kabilo as a period terrace that had barely been touched in decades. Floral wallpaper, worn patterned carpets, dated tiling and tired fixtures ran through the whole house. The bones were good, as they usually are in a Victorian Hackney terrace, but everything on top of them needed rethinking. This was a full refurbishment rather than a facelift, and Kabilo ran it as a design-and-build project from first survey to final handover.
The kitchen shows the scale of the change as well as any room. The old space had grubby cream units, blue wall cabinets and a stained floor. It came out completely. In its place sits a run of matt dark cabinetry with integrated double ovens, a marble-effect island with a waterfall edge, warm oak base units and open timber shelving. A tall black column radiator adds a bit of period-appropriate character against the clean walls. It reads as a proper working kitchen rather than a showroom.
The bathroom was taken back and rebuilt. The dated blue tiles and pedestal basin gave way to a freestanding bath, a floor-mounted brass tap and soft, textured tiling that catches the light. A vessel basin sits on a floating timber shelf, and the original sash window was kept so the room still fills with natural light. Brushed brass fittings tie it together and give it a quiet, boutique-hotel feel.
Upstairs, the bedrooms were handled with a lighter touch to let the character of the house lead. One was kept bright and neutral, with restored period doors and original brass hardware. Another was painted a deep, calming green, with plantation shutters at the windows and column radiators that suit the age of the building. The restored floors and reinstated detailing do a lot of the work here.
The living room is one of the biggest transformations. The before was tired, with timber-clad walls and heavy old carpet. Kabilo restored the cornicing and added wall panelling, reinstated a cast-iron fireplace with a patterned tile hearth, laid herringbone flooring and fitted plantation shutters into the bay window. It went from an awkward, dated room to a warm and elegant reception space that still feels true to the period.
The hallway and staircase set the tone for the whole house now. The dated wallpaper is gone, replaced with panelled walls, restored cornicing and a ceiling rose. The staircase was painted a deep blue with a natural runner, and herringbone floors carry through the ground floor. It is the first thing you see, and it now does the house justice.
The work did not stop at the back wall. Kabilo added a rear extension with brick and full-height sliding glazing, opening the back of the house up to the garden and pulling more light into the ground floor. The overgrown yard was cleared and landscaped, with paving, a lawn, new fencing and a built-in outdoor unit, turning a neglected space into somewhere genuinely usable.
What ties it all together is the approach. Restore what is worth keeping, replace what is not, and make sure the old and the new sit comfortably next to each other. A whole-house renovation like this depends on the parts you never see as much as the finishes on top: sound structural work, proper waterproofing, level floors, reliable services and careful sequencing across a house full of trades. That groundwork is what makes the finished home feel calm and resolved rather than just redecorated.
Ashendon Road is a good example of what Kabilo does best. Take a period property that has been left behind, respect what made it special in the first place, and deliver a full refurbishment that brings it right up to date without stripping out its soul.
This Hackney renovation highlights how thoughtful residential refurbishment, period‑sensitive design and high‑quality construction contribute to the wider built environment network, transforming a Victorian terrace into a contemporary London home while preserving its architectural character.
