2019-06-01 25 Beautiful Homes

| 25bh

for stockistsgo to where to buy

barn conversion

O

ttawaBarnoncebelongedtoBenArthur’s

father,Philip,aspartofthefarmheowned.

WhenBenandhiswifeHilarytookoverthe

propertyin2000,it wasjustbricks,roofand

a dirtfloor.‘ithadbeena feedstoragebarnwhereanimals

werekeptoverwinter,andthereweretwoL-shaped

extensionswithmangers,’saysHilary.‘Atfirst,our

childrenhadtosleepinwhatis nowthepantrywhilewe

gotonwiththeconversion– andthattookoverfouryears!

‘ihada wishlist– a bigkitchen,utilityroom,laundry

room– butit wastrickytocarveupthespace,’shesays.

However,if therewereeveranexemplaryplanforhowto

makethemostofbarnliving,thisis it.Themainliving

spaceis cathedral-likeinitssoaringsplendour,andlight

floodsinfrombothends.Theslidingglasswallthatopens

ontothefieldsatthebackwasmadeinEssexandhadto

beliftedinwitha crane. Partofthebarn’scharmis that

it appearssoopentotheelementsthatthegardenand

fieldsbeyondhavebecomeintegraltothelivingspace.

Limestoneflooringwaslaidfromoneendtothe other

toaccentuatethebarn’slengthandbreadth.

incontrasttothisopen-planarea,a smalleradjoining

TVroomis accessedbya discreetdoor.Thismoreintimate

spacehaselegantFrenchsofasarrangedarounda stone

fireplace. ‘Thefireplaceis Frenchandanearlyonline

buy,’saysHilary.Unlikethelimestonenextdoor,the

flooringinhereis oakandhasbeentoppedwitha dhurrie

thatHilaryboughtinanauctionatSotheby’s.

Elsewhere,too,textileshavebeenusedcreativelyto

softenthelook.inthemainbedroom,whichleadsstraight

outtothegarden,Ben’sstepmotherturnedlinensheets

intosumptuousfull-lengthcurtains.Small,informal

arrangementsofflowers,pickedfromthecouple’sown

garden,providefresh,vibrantcolourineveryroom.

Aglasscorridoralongsidea walledcourtyardleads

tothenewextension,whichhousesthechildren’s

spaciousbedroomsalongwithsleek,contemporary

bathrooms.‘They’regrownupnowbuttheywere 13 and 11

whenwewerefinallyabletomovethemintotheirrooms.

Theywereburstingoutoftheirbunksinthepantryand

mysonhittheceilingeverytimehesatup,’shelaughs.

Theworkisn’tfinishedyet.‘Thisis anongoingproject,’

saysHilary.‘We’replanningtoextendagaintocreatea

newmainbedroom,hopefullywitha hugecupboard. And

i dream of having a garden room – one day!’

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