- In 2023, Natalie Glaze bought a Victorian house that hadn't been touched in 70 years.
- The 32-year-old business owner said the house cost more than $1 million, but was falling apart.
- Despite crumbling walls and rotten floors, Glaze said she doesn't regret buying a historic home.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Natalie Glaze, 32, owner of a jewelry brand and a sustainable swimwear business, who bought a Victorian townhouse in southwest London in 2023.
Glaze and her partner are in the process of renovating the house, which has cost them more than £50,000, around $63,300, so far. They purchased the home after renovating and selling an apartment they previously bought for over $500,000. Glaze is documenting the renovation on TikTok and she said she's been able to earn some additional income from her content.
This essay, which also incorporates quotes from emails between Glaze and BI, was edited for length and clarity.
We weren't planning on getting a house that needed much work.
It was the classic story of: You fall in love with the house, and then you look past some of the issues. You're like, "Oh, that'll be fine. We'll just paint it. It'll be all good."
Before you know it, you realize the whole house is falling apart.
I always knew I wanted to live in a house with character. I like having a project. When we walked around, I just fell in love with the potential.
The house cost seven figures. It's very rare that you get a house that hasn't been touched in over 70 years. I knew that with a lot of love and care, you could bring it back to life.
My dad's an architect. When I was talking to my dad, who gave us advice, he was like, "You're buying a house that's old. There are going to be issues. It's a bit of a can of worms."
We moved in the coldest week that we'd had for months. There was snow on the ground, ice everywhere. There was no central heating, basically no electricity. We thought there would be hot water because there was a shower. When we turned on the shower, we realized there wasn't any hot water.
I remember lying in bed — I had about 10 jumpers on, all the blankets, and a hot water bottle — and saying to my boyfriend, "Have we made a massive mistake?"
After, we stayed with multiple friends for two months. We were really grateful.
The only way out of the renovation was through
The first couple of months, everything ended up happening a lot quicker because of necessity.
Everything was covered in soot because it had coal fires as its central heating. It was very dusty — marks all over the walls, which were crumbling. A lot of the wallpaper had big black smears all over it.
I'm a very visual person, and every time I walked into the house, I thought, "Oh my gosh, there's so much to do."
I couldn't see past the mess of the house. So I just thought, "Let's get it clean and tidy, get rid of all the soot, get rid of all the manky carpets, and make it a space that doesn't feel depressing."
We had to do a mad rush of trying to find electricians and plumbers in a very short space of time.
It felt like a huge amount of pressure because this is a beautiful old house. I don't want to make a decision that I'll regret and do something that ruins it.
When it was like big structural stuff, we thought, "Let's get builders in." But all the painting, the priming, the sanding of the floors, the building of wardrobes — we've done ourselves.
It helps keep the costs lower and connects you to a house.
We're about 40% done with the renovation
We were cooking on the camping stove for the first six months, and there were holes in the walls.
The whole house is basically lath and plaster. It's super soft, and the ceilings had cracks all the way through. I remember the structural engineer said, "Those ceilings are going to go." I was like, "When?" He was like, "At any moment."
We've replaced four ceilings. The amount of dust when those ceilings came down is wild.
We've got two fully finished rooms: the dressing room and the main bathroom. Then the living room, bedroom, and spare bedroom are part of the way there. They look nice, but they're not finished. Currently our kitchen is a building site.
We're very much doing it room by room.
I can see it taking many years, but that's part of the fun. That has massively helped how overwhelming and big of a project it feels like.
This house is full of treasures. When we pulled up the carpet, we found so many old newspapers with hand-drawn advertisements, like vintage Nivea adverts from the 1970s. I want to frame some, showcasing the house, its past, and how long it's been here.
Ninety percent of the downstairs floor was rotten. It had old woodworm damage. I fell through about five floorboards.
When we were falling through, we found old medicine bottles. I'll keep those and display them somewhere. I love that it's a piece of history.
We're mixing vintage finds with modern furniture
Old houses like this are so special. I need to make sure I'm honoring it.
It's a fine balance of having the old original features — having vintage antique pieces — and then bringing in a bit of modern. I like to scour the internet and find stuff that I fall in love with. It can take years.
We've also brought in a lot of old stuff. We've got a mirror on the wall in the living room that my dad bought 35 years ago at Portobello Market. It's come with me to every house I've lived in.
The cornice is original. We've restored all the baseboards because they don't make them like that anymore. For me, it's very important that it still feels like a Victorian home.
We have an old coal cellar in the house. I remember when I first looked at it, I was like, "Am I going to be scared in this house by myself? Will it feel haunted?"
But everyone who comes in just says this house has a lovely feel.
The granddaughter of the lady who lived here before us saw some of my TikTok videos. She contacted me and said, "My whole family have lived here. We were so happy here. I'm so glad it's gone to you. It looks like you're taking care of it."
Who knows with life and circumstances, but I can see myself living here for a very long time and being very happy.