Grade II* Farmhouse
Survey, Repairs & extension
My involvement started with a pre-purchase survey. The building was unoccupied and in a poor state of repair. The clients knew that it required extensive repair and in particular the roof was in need of work as it was leaking through the centre valley. One end of the building contained areas that were difficult to use in the context of a modern home.
The alteration work involved a new 1st floor extension over an existing Victorian ground floor extension to the original house. The original house was a long house, with a long valley gutter running through the centre of the roof plan. The first item of work was to deal with the roof, re-covering, creating a new valley and with a new access hatch to facilitate ease of maintenance in future.
Of course, planning and listed building consent was obtained for the works of repair and alteration. Because this was Grade II* listed Historic England were involved in the process.
The new extension sought to extend the form of the building in a sympathetic manner. The new accommodation provided a master bedroom and en-suite, along with a secondary staircase into the new suite. The extension was broken through from the house at 1st floor level from an existing bedroom, which now forms a dressing room. The new structure is a timber frame and clad in brick, this enabled a faster construction, whilst also preserving the aesthetic of the building. New bespoke windows were made and a new plain tile roof and lead valley were laid. A number of repairs were also undertaken, to both the existing timber frame and brickwork. The cellar was brought back into use and new services were introduced.
Following these works the client instructed us to deal with repairs to a small timber framed forge on site, that was officially on the Building At Risk register. This building was successfully repaired and brought into use, with the forge now being a place for barbecues, etc., as the chimney was brought back into use.
