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Tenderloin
Dooks-Fatberg
I need some help/inspiration.
We're in the middle of four-storey victorian terrace. We love the house and don't want to move so i've been thinking about what we can do about the patio at the back. It's in a north facing garden hemmed in by the 4 storeys of the main block to the south, a single storey extension off the back of our house to the east and a two storey extension off the back of the end-terrace to the west. As a result this bit of the garden gets absolutely zero direct sunlight.
We've had it paved and put a couple of steps up to the rest of the garden but it's basically dead space. Anything i try and grow there dies, even stuff selected to be shade loving. It's cold, damp, dark and basically not a nice place to be. I'm at a bit of a loss to be honest. My missus has suggested putting a pergola and some lighting in but I can't help feeling that's just papering over the cracks of the real issue and it'll still feel cold, damp and overlooked.
The neighbours to the west are having plans drawn-up for work in summer 2022 which include building a new 2 storey extension where there's currently a single storey outhouse. I've talked to them about it as I was concerned about it making our dingy patio even more dank, but to be honest, there's already a double height extension immediately to the west of theirs which blocks the evening light from that direction.
Basically, i'm starting to think that trying to salvage it as useable outside space is a bust and wondering about extending the house to get some better use of the space. Crap drawing attached. Any ideas? The lower ground floor is the main kitchen and living area where the family spend most of their time. Our single storey extension is an ugly blockwork utility and loo that we've just had done-up to make it useable, but I would not be adversed to knocking it down and starting again for the right plan.