Dichen Lachman and Maximilian Osinski Renovate a Victorian in Chiswick

Actors Dichen Lachman and Maximilian Osinski, known for Severance and Ted Lasso, have transformed an untouched three-bedroom Victorian house in west London's Chiswick into a colorful family home with architect Charlotte Lilford.

The couple found the listing by accident. They were mid-workout at a nearby gym when Lachman spotted a place a four-minute walk away. "Oh, I will just go have a quick look—I will be right back," Lachman recalls.

The property, unmodernized since the 1970s, was, in Osinski's words, "the complete opposite" of the joyful house it is today. Lachman, who stars in this month's horror release Other Mommy, saw the potential immediately.

Who designed the transformation?

Lilford, a French mother of five who works between London and Paris, was already a familiar figure: a parent at the couple's daughter Mathilda's school who had renovated another house down the street. Lachman took Osinski to see that project, and he committed without viewing their own purchase.

"I thought, If we could have something like this, I would be so happy," Osinski says. "I trusted the end result, and the footprint is the footprint."

Lilford extended the loft and ground floor, reworked the 1,779-square-foot layout, and reinstated Victorian details removed over the decades. Her method starts with function. "I like designing spaces that are practical," she explains. "I cannot design a space if it makes no sense in terms of the usage."

Why did a temporary move become permanent?

The transatlantic relocation began as short-term. Osinski landed the role of flamboyant footballer Zava in Ted Lasso and spent months filming in Richmond, while Lachman simultaneously filmed Severance, in which she plays Gemma Scout and the enigmatic Ms. Casey. The family—daughter Mathilda and dog Whisky included—gradually fell for west London's family feel and stayed.

The interiors carry the couple's history across continents. Lachman, born in Kathmandu and resident in Nepal until age seven before the family moved to Adelaide, Australia, brought a 19th-century tapestry that belonged to her Tibetan grandmother. Osinski's Polish circus posters anchor his side of the family story. Rugs crafted by Lachman's grandfather remain in place.

"We have this funny little ritual," Lachman says. "When we go to a new city or country, we always buy a Christmas decoration. I know it is very cheesy and touristy, but our tree is really eclectic now and carries beautiful memories. I think that is what makes a home." Osinski adds: "Our style is not very cookie-cutter, and neither is Charlotte's."

What role does the kitchen play?

Lilford designed the kitchen as a hardworking family space rather than a utilitarian zone. "You need kitchens to be practical but pretty because everybody is entertaining in their kitchen," she says. The couple arrived from LA with larger-than-average UK ovens and a substantial range; Lilford fit them into the compact London footprint.

Color, wallpaper, marble, mosaic, and Zellige tiling appear in concentrated moments throughout. A patterned kitchen corner doubles as a booth, and the compact courtyard is treated as another room.

"The smaller the garden, the more money you need to put in it," Lilford says. "You need to make a real splash." The splash is a marble wave mosaic tile pattern from Starel—an outdoor flooring feature that flows indoors.

Lilford's restraint proved as valuable as her design. "Charlotte is really good at toning us down," Lachman says. "We are good at pushing back in terms of going a bit darker or wilder." The upstairs movie theater, wrapped in Élitis's Matières Végétales jungle wallpaper, shows where the couple won that negotiation. "The Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York was a big inspiration in terms of really leaning into the wallpaper and the color," Lachman says. "I tried to track down some of their wallpaper actually, but it was custom."

What comes next for the couple?

The house has become the constant in peripatetic careers. Lachman spent time in New Zealand earlier this year filming The Legend of Zelda; Osinski has been working closer to home on the BBC comedy Ann Droid.

"LA is built for cars," Osinski says. "London is very human scale." The Chiswick house may be smaller than the California new-build they left behind, but the couple, married for more than a decade after meeting in West Hollywood, have embedded themselves in the community—during the visit, a neighbor looks after Whisky while Mathilda plays at a friend's house.

As their filming schedules continue to pull them worldwide, the renovated Victorian demonstrates how a house sized for London life can hold a family's entire history—Tibetan tapestry, Polish posters, and an eclectic Christmas tree included.