HOUSE HISTORIES FOR CURIOUS MINDS
YOUR HOUSE HAS HAD QUITE A LIFE
Discover the people, peculiarities and previous lives of the place you love. Carefully researched, beautifully told and transformed into a timeless printed keepsake.
There’s no place like your home.
If your house could talk, it would have quite a lot of gossip to share. Long before it was yours, it held families and lodgers, love and loss, the occasional local scandal, and a great deal of ordinary life.
For just £399, I help uncover those stories. The initial address check is free, with no obligation to go ahead and nothing to pay until I’ve confirmed there’s enough to tell your home’s story.
If you’ve been wondering who once came through your front door, I’d like to make the introductions.
I follow the clues through historical records to piece together your home’s past, exploring how it has changed, the lives lived within its walls, and its place in the neighbourhood. Those discoveries become a beautifully told story, bringing you closer to your house and the people who made a life there. You might even find yourself growing rather fond of someone who moved out a hundred years before you moved in.
How it works
From the archives
to your wall
Step 2
Follow the clues
I dig through old maps, census records and newspaper pages, following the trail of your house and its residents. Along the way, I piece together how your home has changed and get to know the people who once lived there.
Step 3
Start with your address
I weave those discoveries into a carefully researched, warmly told history of your home. More than a list of names and dates, it’s a story that brings together your house, its people and their place in the neighbourhood.
Step 4
Make room on your wall
Your house history becomes a beautifully designed A2 fine-art print, made to be read, enjoyed and shared with guests. A place on your wall for the people and stories that helped make your home what it is today.
Step 1
Start with your address
Every story starts with a first look at the surviving records for your house. This free check helps us see what there is to explore and make sure there’s enough to build a well-researched, richly detailed story of your home.
What we might uncover
Your house doesn’t need a blue plaque to have a story worth telling
I carry out all research online, exploring digitised archives, historic maps, census records, newspapers and more to piece together a story that belongs to your home. Every house has something different to share, but yours might introduce you to:
➛ The people who came before you, from owners and tenants to lodgers, their occupations, family lives and connections.
➛ Your house through the years, tracing when it appeared in the records, how it was used and what changed along the way.
➛ Life beyond the front door, exploring the street, neighbours and local community that shaped life at your address.
➛ Glimpses of your home in the archives, through old maps, newspaper mentions, directories and other surviving records.
➛ The details you wouldn’t think to ask about, from an unexpected occupation to a business once run from the front room.
Our story
It all started with my own rather unassuming house
My house looked straightforward enough in the estate agent’s particulars. There was certainly no mention of a Victorian phonograph business, a barbershop, or a lodger recommending “Pink Pills for Pale People” in newspapers across the country.
Those came later, when I started digging. What began as curiosity became a growing fondness for the people who had once called it home. Their lives were tied to a neighbourhood that had changed from farmland to mines to a vibrant suburb, and my house had been part of it all.
I wanted to bring those discoveries together into something I could keep. A story that traced the life of the house alongside the lives of the people who’d called it home, and a way to give that history a place on its own walls.
Now I help other people discover that connection with their own homes. I bring the same curiosity and care to each history, following the records, piecing together the lives behind them, and creating a written story and beautiful print for the person who holds the keys today.
Who it’s for
You don’t need a special occasion, just a home you’re curious about
For the start of a new chapter
You’re choosing paint colours, finding homes for your books and making the place your own. Discovering its history is another way to settle in, connecting your new chapter with everything that came before.
For the home you know by heart
You know its quirks and have made plenty of memories of your own here. But there’s still room for a surprise or two. Discovering its past gives you something new to love about the place you love.
For the person who has everything
For a birthday, an anniversary or simply because you know they’d love it. A researched story and beautiful print, made especially for their address, is a gift they’re unlikely to unwrap twice.
Book a free address check
A little preliminary nosiness on me
Your house history and A2 fine-art print cost £399, including research, writing and design. Just send me the address and I’ll check the records for free, with no obligation to go ahead. There’s nothing to pay until I’ve confirmed there’s enough to tell its story.
Before we get started
A few commonly asked questions
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Once you’ve booked your free address check, I’ll be in touch within 5 business days to confirm if your house is a good fit. If you decide to go ahead with the full package for £399, I’ll send you the details for ordering and a short questionnaire that gives you the chance to share anything you know or are particularly curious about.
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You’ll receive a beautifully designed unframed A2 fine-art print telling the story of your home. Researched and written especially for your address, it brings together the house, its residents and the surrounding neighbourhood. It’s a piece to read, display and share, with details to return to long after that first look.
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Just your address! And if you have old deeds, photographs, previous research or a story you’ve always wondered about, I’d love to hear about those too.
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Absolutely. It’s a thoughtful gift for someone settling into a new home, celebrating years in a much-loved one, or who simply wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Start with a free records check for their address, and let me know if you have a particular occasion or date in mind.
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Your house doesn’t need a grand staircase or a famous former resident to have a story worth telling. What matters is the trail it has left in the records. I start with a free check to see whether there’s enough to build a history of your home.
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I explore online collections of census records, historic maps, street directories, newspapers and other historical documents. Different records reveal different things, from who was living at your address to what was happening in the surrounding streets.
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All my research takes place online, using digitised historical records and archive collections. There’s plenty to explore without knocking on your door, from census entries and old newspapers to maps and directories. Physical archive visits and house visits aren’t part of the service.
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Every house leaves a different trail. Yours might lead us through several generations of residents, reveal a former business, or tell the story of a changing street.
Before you commit, I take an initial look to see whether there’s enough to work with. If the surviving records are too thin to build a worthwhile history, I’ll let you know.
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Sometimes the records help narrow it down, but an exact date isn’t always possible. Maps and other documents can offer clues about when a house appeared or changed.
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An old photograph would be a lovely discovery, but it isn’t something I can promise. Maps, newspaper pages and written records can still offer revealing glimpses of your home’s past. If you already have photographs, I’d love to see them and hear anything you know about when they were taken.
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I aim to complete the free address check within 5 business days. If there’s enough to explore and you decide to go ahead, your finished history and print will usually take 6-8 weeks. If you have a particular date in mind, please mention it when you enquire.