Selfbuilder_and_Homemaker_-_September_-_October_2019

HIGH POINT

The cottage came with 1.5 acres of land –

more than they knew what to do with – and had

“huge potential,” says the couple.

“We didn’t really want this amount of land but

it was too good an opportunity to miss, and the

house had a really good feel to it. It was gut

instinct that made us buy it,” says Carly.

The farm cottage, built in the 1850s, is one of

three adjoining properties and had a very small

ground floor footprint. There was a staircase

running directly from the sitting room and the

previous owners had extended to create a

bigger kitchen and two bedrooms upstairs. The

resulting L-shaped property had an added lean-

to. There was a wood-burning stove with a back

boiler, and few windows to bring natural light

into the property.

Carly and Tom were unfazed by the dated

design and bought the house in October 2016

for £350,000. They didn’t move in straight away,

however. In fact building work didn’t start until

over a year later, in February 2018, after months

of painstaking planning and preparation.

“Tim gave us lots of design ideas,” says Tom.

“We studied architecture together at university

and while I have a degree in architecture,

Tim is really visual and forward thinking.

We trusted his judgement and advice

completely. Although he is a very good friend,

that didn’t stop him being very professional

and cutting to the chase. He listened to what

we wanted for the house, how we wanted to

live in it, and came up with four or five key

designs based on our wish list.”

While Tim’s strength lies in seeing the bigger

picture, Tom has a finely tuned eye for detail

and, between them, they were able to bat

ideas back and forth until they agreed on the

final design.

ABOVE

The spacious kitchen has been

built to link both sides of the

original L-shaped house, where

there was once a lean-to

OPPOSITE

It took the builder a week – and

four pneumatic drills – to break

through the concrete floor to

install underfloor heating

The build involved

knocking down the

old lean-to and

erecting a new

kitchen extension in

its place, before

knocking out the

original exterior

wall to create one

large room

“Finally moving in after

nearly two years of

planning and building.

It’s been quite a journey,

but now we wouldn’t

want to live anywhere

else.”

• Carly & Tom Holliday

50www.sbhonline.co.uk september/october 2019