'I transformed a 70s house into a mini stately home and added £1.7 million to its value'

A woman has transformed what was once a 1970s house into a mini 'stately home' - and added an impressive £1.7 million to its value. Claire Totman, 38, bought the three bedroom property in Surrey off market with her mum Liz for £875,000 in October 2019.

Claire, who works as a designer, had a vision to turn the dated property into an 'elegant' and 'timeless' home. She had helped design three of her mum's previous homes but had a big vision when they bought Sandacre house.

Over the last eight months, the mum-of-two has spent £460,000 extending the house at the side, back and roof to create four large bedrooms, and an additional drawing room. Her home has been valued at a whopping £2.6 million.

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Claire had been interested in design ever since she was young and built her way up to become a design manager. But when the company she worked for went under, Claire took the opportunity to start her own business in summer 2016.

Claire, who is now director of Claire Totman designs, said: "The original house is still there. People think it is a new build. Our style is classic, traditional and a modern twist. It's elegant and timeless. We don't follow the trends, because a trend is a trend."

"The original house is 1972. It only had one owner. It's on a large plot. I look at it and I have the vision in my head. I look at what needs to be achieved." Claire started the renovations in February 2020 and kept the structure of the original house.

She said: "We extended at the rear and side. We replaced the windows and built a porch. "We took off the roof structure and replaced it to allow habitable space. We did a nice gut job inside," she said.

Claire spent £460k on all the renovations in 2020 - but says she was able to get cheaper costs through her design business. She said the industry is completely different post Covid. "I buy everything through the business. Now you would be looking at double," Claire added.

Claire says the project has become 'iconic' and draws clients to her. She said: "They come to you because this is what they want."

Claire says her co-owner mum 'loves' the house. She said: "There's loads of space for us to come around. She's one of the lucky baby boomers. She did well on property. She bought her first for £6k."

You can follow Claire on Instagram @claire.totman.designs.