The clients purchased this historic farmstead with a view to transform it into a long-term home for the family where they can both live and work. The building are sited on a one acre plot and comprise of the partially timber-framed c17th farmhouse, a Victorian barn and a number of modern outbuildings. The house was not listed but the site is located in the greenbelt. The brief was to celebrate the character of the farmstead and sensitively extend the house to create a long-term sustainable home for their family.

Our solution was to remove insensitive later additions to the house, replacing these with an extension with steeply-pitched and flat roof elements to link the building with the wider landscape, reinstate the agricultural character of the adjacent barn and replace the modern outbuildings with a new home office which echoed the design of the main house.

We introduced a minimal palette of oak and copper throughout the farmstead to unify the buildings. These materials were appropriate for the context, are robust and will develop an attractive patina over time.