Extending a 17th Century Coach House

Sandra and David Millikin knew that extending a Listed 17th Century coach house containing the remains of a handsome stone pigeon loft would never be an easy task but they have ended up with a house that they find highly satisfying to both live in and look at.

Apart from suffering continuing antagonism from some members of their parish council, David's grumbles about lack of storage space and his wife's much loved new luxury en suite bathroom (it looks just like what you'd find in an expensive hotel), they consider the end result to be an ideal home for two.

It has been a lengthy project with many ups and downs. The house they had occupied since 1974 was a five bedroom, solid wall, brick and chalk building dating from the 17th Century. It was originally built for the manager of the estate that once held all the land in their picturesque village, which nestles under the chalk downlands in south west Oxfordshire.

In 1985 the couple converted the rear two storey coach house, which they had previously used for garaging cars and storage, into a single bedroom guest wing with its own separate access.

Then in the early 1990s Sandra, a solicitor who also trained as an architectural historian, conceived the idea of downsizing by selling off the main house and extending the guest wing to make it into a home.

"The scheme was ideal for the two of us," she says. "The new house was shut off from the road, very private, and appeared to be ancillary to the old house rather than a separate residence."

In such sensitive circumstances - a Listed building on a site which slopes down to a brook in the Conservation Area of a highly scenic village in the Vale of White Horse - the Millikins adopted a policy of doing it by the book.

They approached planners in the Vale of White Horse in early 1996 in order to take soundings on what might be acceptable. When it was indicated that the scheme was considered feasible they appointed a local architect, Alan Drury, to draw up some preliminary schemes. The overriding aim was to come up with something that would be considered sensitive enough to gain planning permission.

"We had quite open minds at that stage," says Sandra. "As an American, I was familiar with contemporary house design. We wanted to retain the integrity of the coach house while creating a distinct contrast between the old and new sections of the house."

"The old house had rooms facing north and east, which made it cold and dark. The new project could be almost back to back, with rooms facing south and west. We also liked the idea of a glass window wall facing south and west which would make the rear of the house light and airy and maximise our views over open countryside towards the Berkshire Downs. To my surprise the conservation officer preferred the most radical scheme, in which the main bedroom and kitchen dining area of the new section were on the ground floor under a flat roof."

"There was complete agreement in principle between us and the planners," recalls Sandra. "The new house was to be completely ancillary to the old one. The idea of the flat roof should be to make it look less important than the main house and almost invisible from the road. Any differences we had were purely design details."

However, things were not as straightforward as this and it took 14 months for the Millikins to gain planning permission. They calculate that their battle probably cost them in excess of £11,000 in additional architects and consultants fees.

The intention was for David and Sandra to live in the old house while the work took place and sell it at the end of the project. However, after they had let it be known informally in the surrounding area that the house would eventually be on sale for a sum in excess of £350,000, they received a very good offer for that plus a small parcel of land including the former lawn and formal garden. David and Sandra kept the paddock and adjoining field, which has a plot - about an acre in total.

There was no need to divide the two properties physically. All that connected them was a ground floor area that did not pass through from one building to the other. "The new owner of the old house preferred to keep it as a utility room, so we agreed. We could see no reason to object and so are technically semi-detached," says Sandra.

She was keen to have everything as modern as possible, and also to be on the spot during the build. By good fortune a tenanted house in the village became available and the Millikins lived there from December 1997 for the duration of the construction phase.

Once the building got under way, Sandra was able to see all that she had worked and fought for fall into place. The house is a subtle and sensitive amalgam of old and new that successfully forms the contrast they desired. The new section is one storey and entirely flat roofed. It houses an open plan kitchen and sitting room and the en suite master bedroom. It is tied to the old building at ground floor level by a hall and cloakroom. Upstairs the gable end of the old building has been extended to form a bedroom overlooking the garden.

"I knew exactly what I wanted," Sandra explains. "I was pernickety and demanding and insisted on great attention to detail. When I was told 'It can't be done' I responded by saying that those words do not exist in my vocabulary."

It may not be a terribly ecologically sound house and it was not designed to save money but it is really warm and fantastically comfortable. Their scheme has been a remarkable success against the odds.

Further reading:

• A Stone Extension
• Remodelling an 18th Century Cottage
• Extending Your Home