His Striking Modern Minimalist Houseboat on London’s Canals

If like me you've ever really idealised the idea of living on a canal boat and waking up each and every day right next to the water, then this is one that you have to watch. But be warned because it is every bit as good as you think. Gidday Mark, how's it going mate? Hi boss, how are you doing? Very well thank you, it's an absolute pleasure to be here. You're very welcome. On the water like this, this is about as good as life gets isn't it? It's not bad, this suits me and yeah I love it, love being here and been here 10 years now. And so 10 years on the water, what was it that made you choose this way of life? Boat life, yeah that probably began 40 odd years ago as a child. My parents took me on a few canal boat holidays with my siblings and my cousins and that's stuck in my mind and then years later leading up to my divorce I kind of started reminiscing. Yeah and I decided to buy a boat and revisit those childhood memories and that's what I did. I moved on my boat, I left my marriage and new life began. You know when you think about life in London, I do not picture it being this peaceful. I suppose we're on the fringe of London really, Hampton Court which is just over there behind us. Yeah we're in the suburbs of London really, right on the border but you know where I live, I can be in central London in half an hour, train straight through. It's peaceful, it has its moments you know. Saturday morning can be quite busy with all the rowers coming past and the boat will be rocking. It's a different kind of traffic though isn't it? Yeah it's a different kind of traffic and then you get the party boats coming past at night with discos and all of that. I love all of that, it's life and it's good to see. And as you say the palace is just over there and I think you've got a better view than the royals right here. Yeah and I didn't pay as much either, it's cheaper. They get to look at me. And tell me about the boat because you designed and fit this one out yourself didn't you? I did yeah, I knew the length that I wanted, I took that to the boat builder, said what I wanted, told them where to put the windows and then fitted it all out as you'll see. This is my second boat, I had a little narrower boat before this which was the same length but half as wide almost. And you did have a past life as a builder didn't you? I did yeah, I worked in building and property all my life, building, decorating, refurbishments, carpentry. You did it all? Yeah, I kind of just took that to the water and just did what I did on land, on water yeah. So when you come onto the boat did you retire from building? Not entirely, I carried on decorating but I packed up my building work, I kind of had enough of the stress of that, employing and big jobs and yeah I just wanted a more chilled existence really. And the boat, what size is it? It's 45 foot long by 10 foot wide and it's the same length as my last boat but just wider. The little boat was great, I loved it but I do have more space on there which is the real bones. Yeah 10 foot wide, that's quite big for a canal boat isn't it? It is, it's bigger than what we've got behind us which is a narrow boat but yeah so 60 by 12 is about as big as they come and this is 45 by 10 which for me is perfect. It's cheaper on the license, it's easier to get moored, it's easier to maintain so that's what I wanted. I didn't want a great big lump of a boat so this is quite manageable. Yeah, nice balance between finding good parking spots, being able to move it quite easily but still having a really good amount of living space. I think I maximized and got the most out of it that I could out of a boat of this size, it's good. Tell me about the name of the boat. Ah the name of the boat, the name of the boat is called Credence again. My first boat was called Credence which I call it Credence after the band actually. Right. When I was up in Northampton doing my first boat I was jogging, I used to go for a run down the canal and I'd had Credence playing in my ears as I ran down the towpath or jogged and I thought yeah Credence that's that's a good name for a boat. Yeah. So I called my first boat Credence and then when I was building this people said are you going to call it Credence again? I thought yeah I'll call it Credence again instead of Credence 2. Yeah I like that and I see you've got the solar panels on the boat as well so are you mostly off the grid in the boat or do you plug into shore power mostly? I plug into shore power mostly when I'm on my home mooring but I still use that you know that works great in summer it does all my 12 volt even in the winter it does my 12 volt so that works. It's a small setup but it's good enough for what I need. Yeah. If I was living full-time on the river I'd double that because we've got grey skies here over Hampstead Court. Yeah. So you do have a marina berth where you're parked up most of the time. Do you travel much in the boat? My last boat I took all over the country. I took it to North Wales and back. Oh wow. Up through the canals, up through Oxfordshire, up the Thames that way to Oxford. That must have been beautiful. It was stunning yeah it was a great trip I was gone about six weeks. But you haven't traveled so much in this boat? Not so much in this one. I did take it up to Watford. Right. For I was gone a couple of weeks I took it up there to Blackett which is paint the underside of the boat. So I took it up there and we craned it out and cleaned up the bottom, blacked it all. I did take it under Tower Bridge and through central London and Camden Town and Regents Canal. I've done a little trip in it but I haven't done the kind of trip I've done in my old boat. Which this wouldn't do. You couldn't get this to Wales anyway because it's too wide. Right. You need a narrow boat to get that far. In that respect you kind of have the best of both worlds here don't you? Because you've got a permanent mooring where you can have the real sense of home and being a bit grounded in place. But then you do also have freedom to move and travel when you need to. Exactly yeah it's perfect you know if I'm going out locally Kingston or Hampton Court wherever I quite often take the boat and just moor up and go out then it's a short walk home. Yeah. Which is nice after a night in the pub. Yeah and I don't think there's anything more peaceful than life on the water. It's got a calmness and I like that yeah. I think there's actually something that's innately connected with human psychology that when we look at water because water I think is so intrinsically connected with human survival if we can see water I think there's a very primal part of our brains that just becomes calm. Says we're okay. Yeah exactly yeah. Well standing here right now it's actually quite hard for me to picture a more idyllic way of life and I cannot wait to see what you've done on the inside of this boat. Can we have a look? Of course you can come on in. All right. This is absolutely brilliant. One of the things that just immediately hits me standing in here is obviously the view looking out onto that water and one of the things that I love about these boats is how low they sit in the water so when you look out those windows all you see is water. Yeah I think the water would be up to your knees if it was in here yeah we're about two foot below the water line yeah sitting in here and yeah you've got the view you've got the the ducks and the swans and it's a good view. Yeah and this design is so spacious. Yeah I kind of maximized it I knew the the length of the boat that I wanted and designed the boat with that in mind and just tried to get the best out of every inch really. I wanted this boat to feel modern, clean, I'm a bit of a clean freak yeah and just be chilled with the river and quite minimal really. I'm quite minimal in how I live my life. So this is your second houseboat that you've lived in. What was it that you absolutely had to have in this home to make it work for you? I wanted dining for four and I wanted more wardrobe space because my last wardrobe was like that wide right and now I've got six foot of wardrobe so yeah I think those were the two things that I wanted more the wardrobe space and dining and a washing machine. I desperately wanted to have a washing machine my last boat was as lovely as it was I just didn't have the space for it so yes I've got a washing machine now. Definite touch of luxury living on the water with a washing machine. Saves humping everything to the laundry right yeah. And I really do like the way that you've done this dining table as well so spacious it becomes extra obviously prep area as well for the kitchen when needed but again having the chairs there right by the window looking out onto the water what a lovely place to sit and enjoy a meal. I love having that but being by the window I wanted it really centre to the window but it took up too much room so I've actually designed it so it moves. Oh really? Yeah it slides along to be centre to the window so you can all sit and enjoy the view. Even better what a clever idea that is. Yeah it's just very simple really there's no clever mechanics to it it's just it shunts along. Yeah and a great very spacious design for this kitchen as well you've got so much storage so much prep space here. Yeah there's more storage in here than and worktop than there is in some houses I think so I wanted lots of worktop and I wanted a big sink. I can't abide tiny sinks I like good deep sinks so. I agree. That's what I've got. Well especially if you don't have a dishwasher then a nice big sink like this it becomes essential. Yes even in my small boat I have a sink that big it's a must for me. Absolutely really good sized oven and cooktop. Yeah that's fine it's on Calagas there's two bottles at the back of the boat that works for me. And you've got the bathroom through there? Yeah bathrooms through there I've got a lovely little basin I've got a really good size shower and cassette toilet which some people don't like but you know it works it's simple it doesn't foul yeah and I just deal with that where I'm moored. I guess that's one of the benefits as well to having a permanent mooring at the marina is that they would have that infrastructure there. Yeah that's a once a week affair. Yeah and this lounge is just so nicely done as well putting that skylight right in the middle there was such a great idea it adds a real nice feature to the lounge. Yeah I love that it gives me so much more light and a bit more headroom which I think you'd probably appreciate that. I always appreciate more headroom but you know to that end it is really spacious in here I don't feel sort of enclosed at all I have been on boats before where I felt like I have to duck the whole time but I don't have to in here. No I think we've got about seven just under seven foot in here which is pretty good and we can even fit you in Bryce. Can even fit me in thank you for some good design there yeah and great size couch. Yeah that came in pieces it didn't get through the door that works the kids sleep on it. Yep. I've slept on it yeah it's really cozy. Brilliant and I really like the way that you've included the television in here as well sort of recessing it into a bit of cabinetry there very tidily done. Yeah that's kind of stuff I used to do work-wise like filming carpentry and yeah I just brought that onto the boat and carried on doing what I've always done really. Yeah nice to be able to take those skills that you're so used to using for other people and use them for yourself as well. Yeah and it's nice to do my own projects you know for myself and not being governed by other people's you know wants it's just how I want to do it. Yeah absolutely the fireplace no home is truly complete without one is it? No that's great I burn coal and wood on that it keeps the boat completely toasty there's nothing to go wrong apart from me forgetting to buy wood or coal so that's always there. There is central heating on the boat as well. Right. I've got radiators and a boiler and hot water and and all the rest of it but yeah the lug bands that's great. Yeah even with all that other stuff you just can't beat the ambience of a fire. No it's lovely. Yeah and you've got the bedroom down the end there and really cleverly done with the raised bed platform so you can fit all of that storage in underneath. Yeah there's an abundance of storage under there there's two sort of rows of drawers and then there's further storage behind that the water tank is right in the bow of the boat and I've got my wardrobes and there's storage either side of the bed yeah it's great. It's a little higher than it should be right slight slip up with a tape measure hence the box at the bottom let's step up. Gotcha. But I yeah I think when I built that I didn't account for the mattress the mattress the mattress went on there and then I realised it's actually a lot higher than my last one but anyway it's fine I'm used to jumping up there now. Yeah and it did give you a bit of extra storage. Yeah it's giving me extra storage yeah. We'll just call it a happy mistake. Yeah happy mistake yeah. How big is your water tank? The water tank I think is about 750 litres or so that lasts me a couple of weeks or so. Yeah fantastic and really nice window placement in the bedroom as well you've got that nice central opening window and then the two port lights either side. I wanted to be able to see through the front as you come through the back I wanted to keep it as open as I could which is why the wardrobes are central so you can see right through and also you know if you're cruising you open up those windows you get the air just flows through the boat. And looking around the boat in general I can see that you have not skimped on storage no space has gone to waste in here has it? There's lots of storage and you've just got to use every inch that you can but you know I'm quite minimal as well in in how I live so there's plenty for me. The cupboards obviously you can see them there's storage underneath all the units and then I've got my cupboards at the back which house the electrics, the washing machine, tumble dryer yeah and then obviously we've got the DVD cupboards next to the telly yeah there's all of that loads of storage under the bed the wardrobes yeah as much as I could make. So you've been living on the water now for 10 years how long have you been in this boat? I've been in this boat just about three years now. And what's it like living here? It's great there's a good community you know we help each other out I've met loads of friends it's been a whole new life for me. Yeah from the outside looking in this would be such an easy way of life to really idealize and I know that I'm guilty of that myself what is the reality of life on the water like? On the whole great but you do need to be practical there's always something to do and there's always kind of something to fix you need to make sure you've got diesel and wood and coal and yeah just it can be harsh in the winter this boat will freeze in the winter if you don't keep it warm it's much much colder so yeah you just need to just prepare really. Yeah what do you do to insulate the boat? Insulation is foam spray which is pretty good it's probably the best actually insulation that you can put in a boat because it holds back the humidity because being a metal boat it will compensate if the humidity gets to the metal it will compensate. Right. So foam spray stops that humidity touching the metal and stops it compensating. And can we talk about the cost that was involved in building this boat? Yeah we can talk about that I paid about 50 grand for this boat this shell and then I kind of lost track with what I spent on it I don't know maybe another 20 25 grand I spent on it and my time I worked long hours for a good three months doing it. I bet and it is pretty easy to lose track of those running costs when you're right in the thick of a project like that. Yeah I started a spreadsheet and then I just got bored with it and I just didn't I stopped adding it up. Fair enough. I've got a mental idea of what I spent on it. Yeah. Well some of the best times I would say of my life I've been on and around the boat for sure. The calmness just being there the water the nature you don't have the traffic you don't have it's just a more chilled way and I think it rubs off on you in every aspect of your life. I'm a more chilled person than I was 10 years ago for sure so I think I've absorbed the calmness of the water. And what does the future hold for you now? I'd quite like to do another project. Yeah? Yeah I think I'm probably going to sell this one. Right. And I'd like to do another one I might do another narrowboat because I fancy the idea of going off on another long trip again. I think the ultimate dream for me would be to buy a little plot on the side of the canal somewhere I could park my boat at the bottom of my garden and have something a bit rustic and rural and some sheds and somewhere to park my boat. That's living the dream there right? That's a bit of a tour. Yeah a little house garden right on the river with the narrowboat parked right down the bottom. That's it. Now you're talking. Yeah I think that would be pretty fantastic. Yeah well when you make that happen for yourself you have to let us know because I would love to come and check that out. Yeah if that ever happens I shall let you know for sure. And amazingly next week we are visiting your brother who also lives tiny. Yeah James. Yeah he's more of a creative than me but you know I'm a creative but in a more practical way and I let practicalities sort of govern my design. James is a bit more. Yeah and you'll see. I can't wait. Well looking at what you've done here I can just see it runs in the family because you're both very very creative clever people. Thank you very much that's very kind of you Simon. Yeah well Mark I'm just so impressed with what you've created here. Your life on the river just looks so magical and standing in this home right now I really feel like you've created the best of both worlds for yourself. You've got this wonderful outdoor playground to explore on the river but in here you've created a place that truly feels like home. Thank you so much for sharing it with me. You're very welcome Bryce. Thank you. I think there is an unrivaled peace to life on the water. To be here just in such close proximity to nature and the elements is such a special way to live and what Mark has created with this lifestyle on this boat I think is just the perfect blend of both worlds because not only is he so connected to the river but also he's just a stone's throw from London and the big city and everything that that has to offer. All of that encapsulated in the most wonderful practical modern home. This really is a beautiful way of life that Mark has created for himself.