The story of how Rachel Chudley and her husband Nico Kaufman found their current East London home is about as magical as the space itself. “We were perfectly happy,” says the interior designer about their former Whitechapel flat. “One day we were walking and saw a sign on some battered doors that said ‘workshop for sale.’” The couple wondered how there was even a building back among the rubble, but they crept in to take a look beyond the gates. The plot had been derelict for over 20 years, and what was originally a stable was in ruins, yet Rachel and Nico were intrigued. “We put in our closed bid in an envelope—it was a shot in the dark moment—and we got it,” Rachel says.
The renovating process wasn’t as quick and easy as the purchase. Rachel and Nico sold their former flat, moved a caravan into their new yard, and began planning. “Central East London has a lot of restrictions, so it took us about a year to get planning permission,” says Rachel. “It’s a wonderfully bonkers building with a romantic old stable in the back. My big inspiration for splitting up the space was lovely European continental places with little courtyards in the back.”