2019-06-01 25 Beautiful Homes

25bh | 15th-century detached

Beaming with joy

Guttingandcompletelyrenovatinga periodproperty,aswellasbuildinga

new barn space, has been a labour of love for Sue and Martin Sugden

S

ueSugdenheardthatherdreamhousehadcomeup

forsaleinanunusualway.‘It’ssurprisingwhatyou

findoutwhileyou’reintheschoolplaygroundwaiting

forclasstofinish,’shesays.‘Thispropertyhad

everythingwewanted,butit hadn’tbeentouchedfor 40 years

andwasa majorproject.’Suehashorsessowasdelightedto

findthepropertyhadanacreoflandforcreatinga paddock.

‘We’dbeenlivingintheHampshireareafor 18 yearsand

althoughwehada substantialproperty,it wasona busyroad

andwasn’tquitemyideaofruralbliss,’saysSue.‘Thishouse

wasdowna quietlaneandwhenmyhusbandMartinandI

viewedit,wewerecharmedbyitscharacterandpotential.’

Thebasichousedatesfromthe1400s,witha Sixties

extensionfacingthegarden,aswellasa largebarnattached

to the house. But there was no feeling of flow and it seemed

likethreeseparatepiecesofa jigsaw.Thecoupleknewthey

couldmakeit somethingspecialthattheirdaughters

Georgia,now22,andPhoebe,17,wouldlove.

However,thesurveyrevealedthebarnhadnoproper

foundations,andasit wasinsucha badstatethecouplewere

grantedplanningpermissiontodemolishit andrebuildthat

section.‘Itwastheidealplacetocreatea centralhubtothe

house– a largespacefeaturinga kitchenwithinformal

diningandseatingareas,’saysSue.Allthebeamsintheold

partofthehousearegenuine,butthebeamsinthekitchen

areaarenewandjustmadetolookold.‘Thefewbeamswe

didmanagetosavefromthebarnarenowinthegardenas

raisedbedsanddecking,sotheydoliveon,’smilesSue.

Withthebuildingworktakingsixmonths,andthe

central barn fitted out, the family finally moved in in the

FeaTureSTepHanIe SmITH| phoTographyColIn poole

112 | 25bhjune 2019