Actress Linda Robson on why it is time to quit her beloved Islington Property
Sometimes it's hard to fly the nest and actress Linda Robson should know.
Renowned for her archetypal Essex wife in one of the BBC's most successful
sitcoms, Birds Of A Feather, she was born, brought up and, indeed, has
never
lived anywhere other than the Essex Road area of Islington, North London.
But now she is selling her ?1million Victorian house just off Upper
Street
and heading north to Barnet.
Islington runs in the family: her father Bob was born in Elmore Street
and
her mother still lives there. Linda met her great friend and TV sister
Pauline Quirke at the local Ecclesbourne Primary School when they were just
five years old and at the Anna Scher Theatre School she knew a handful of
other successful actors - such as Sid Owen, Patsy Palmer and Kathy Burke.
'It will be very difficult,' says Linda. 'I know everyone here, everyone
down the market, all the girls in Marks & Spencer and at Sainsbury's. I
really don't want to leave.' The departure, she says, is all down to
education. Although Linda admits that Islington Green School is improving,
she insists on having the best for her children.
'The primary schools are fine around here,' she says, 'but the secondary
schools are not very good.' Linda, though, is against sending the children
to
private schools and instead is moving only half an hour away to Barnet,
where
she believes that the state schools are better. The plan is to sell the
house
before buying anything in Barnet. 'And if we don't like it,' she adds
cheerfully, 'we can always come back.' The 'we' are Linda's family: husband
of 14 years, former window cleaner turned launderette owner Mark Dunford,
and
her three children - 20-year-old Lauren from her first marriage, Louis,
11,
and Roberta, six.
In 1989, Linda swapped the Essex Road for Essex itself in Birds Of A
Feather, where she lived in a brand new home in upandcoming Chigwell.
In real life, the bubbly, down-to-earth 44-year-old was able to trade up
from a housing association flat to a two-bedroom house in Arlington Avenue
when the TV series, written specially for Linda and Pauline by writers
Maurice Gran and Laurence Mark, became a success.
'Mark and I thought our two-bedroom house was really big then, compared
with the flat,' says Linda. 'So when we bought this house after my son
arrived, it seemed huge.' The family moved into the four-storey terrace
house
in a quiet, tree-lined street nine years ago. At the time the property was
divided into two rundown flats but they transformed it into a light and
cheery family house without any signs of celebrity grandeur.
'I'm not the sort of person to pick up a drill. We had to have the place
rewired and replastered and we replaced all the windows,' recalls Linda.
'Plus we moved out one of the kitchens. Thankfully my dad, who was a
roofer,
did a few bits for us too.' The kitchen was installed by a jolly team of
set
designers who worked on Birds Of A Feather. 'They made jokes while they
were
installing it,' says Linda, 'about how it would rock about and lights would
stick out of cupboards like on the set.' But Linda is not averse to a bit
of
design herself. Her exuberant character - she confesses that her family
have always said she can't keep quiet - is certainly reflected in her
choice of decor.
'When I first started painting and decorating everything in all these
bright shades, my family thought my hormones had gone a bit mad,' she
confesses. 'But I really like these colours. I'm obsessed with aubergine.'
Designers Guild shades of aubergine, lilac
and blue dominate. There are colourful, modern chandeliers from Liberty,
blue
velvet sofas, pink and orange beaded cushions, fairy lights and a fluffy
purple rug, that the children love to lie on, in the living room.
'Lauren chose the colours in her bedroom and she drove me mad with her
carpet because she kept spilling Chinese takeaways on it, so I ripped it
out.' Indeed, the style goes from the simple, beautiful beechwood floors
which came from a flooring company run by friends, to an array of
generously
proportioned ornaments.
'I started my collection with a ballerina I bought in Spain, so
everybody
now buys me these figures of fat women.' It is unlikely Linda will get much
change after selling up since prices in Barnet reflect the good schools in
the area. She says the children had their hearts set on luxuries like a
swimming pool, but she has told them they will have to be content with a
four-bedroom house and each having their own bedroom.
What will she most miss about life in Islington? 'Going shopping with my
mum and sister Debbie every Tuesday and turning up for Sunday lunch. But
nothing will really change. It will just take a bit longer to get here.'
There is an irony in the fact that Linda, who is a very hands-on and
devoted
mother, has been playing the role of Wanda in ITV soap opera Crossroads.
'She's an awful trollop, the worst mother ever, who gets arrested for
shoplifting and credit card fraud.' This year Linda has also been given
another feisty role in ITV's The Bill and will soon be appearing in a West
End play, with rehearsals starting this month.
Her next project might get her estate agent reaching for his camera to
reshoot the sales brochure for the house. It is an ITV series called Home
On
Their Own, presented by Tess Daly, where Linda's children will get to
transform their rooms' decor. But Linda does not seem at all fazed by the
idea.
'The children love all the bright colours so I've got no idea what
they'll
do.' Although a family home is on the cards for now, having once filmed in
a
loft-style apartment near Tower Bridge, Linda quite fancies the idea of one
day owning a new loft pad, but isn't convinced this would work with
children.
'How anyone lives in a minimalist way with a family is beyond me. But I
do
rather like that modern look.' She will clearly relish recreating a happy
family home in Barnet, but is the first to admit that she is reluctant to
leave.
'I do love this house,' she says, looking around, 'as it is nice and
comfortable. And having my bits and bobs around me has always been
important.' ? Linda Robson's house is on the market through Thomson Currie,
020 7354 5224.
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