The Vicarage, De Beauvoir, N1

Purchased as a family home in 2009, I spent 18 months lovingly restoring this 4.000sqft former vicarage to a beautiful family home. The majestic home on a popular square on the border of Islington and Hackney had been purchased by a housing association in the 19070s and had been a woman’s refuge before the association decided it required too much work and left it derelict.

When I discovered the property a group of pacifist squatters had taken up residence in the house as a political stand against all the empty homes in Hackney. Inconceivable now! At one point 18 people, including a newborn baby, made this property their home.

It’s a shame I don’t have any good pictures but it predates social media and smart phones with proper cameras so these are the best I have.