Alice Stolz

I think it's financially, one has to be disciplined.

I think in terms of time management, one has to be disciplined.

And I think of also putting finite parameters around things, like saying this has to be completed by this date so the next phase of this can start.

So I really just enjoyed those challenges, I suppose.

And I say, you know, I suppose the art of our success in renovating was choosing things

the amazing people that we worked with throughout.

And I think that is clearly key for every story where you hear someone having a wonderful experience, you hear the opposite of, you know, someone being burnt terribly by choosing not a great builder or the plumber wasn't as good as they thought they were going to be, et cetera.

So I do think there is a lot of pre-work that needs to take place.

And again, it goes back to that discipline and research and doing the hard yards at the start to really set up that project for success.

No, I feel quite attached and I'm quite romantic around period homes, I suppose.

And I love character and uniqueness in homes.

And I see so many houses in my job.

And the ones that always stand out for me are the ones where you can feel the personality of the people who live there and see their stories around them on the walls and the way they have constructed a house.

We worked really hard at trying to make our house quite unique.

And, you know, I think for an investor, that's not the way to approach a renovation.

They do really need to think about the appeal when selling a house.

But in the case of us, knowing that we're going to be here for some substantial amount of time, we really did, you know, embrace the history and the character of what was a very old rambling Edwardian home.

But now we've maintained that while also made it work for a busy modern family.

That's right.

Although just last month, actually, another result of COVID, we had a little pod built in the back garden, a little studio.