Extending a Former Blacksmiths

Mark Plumtree’s grand tour of the former village ‘smithy’ he wanted to buy lasted just two minutes. Although the owner, a farmer, had converted it into a living area, he said it was “so small there was nothing really to look at.” But Mark knew he could make better use of the space and loved its peaceful rural location near Selby, North Yorkshire, so he “sat tight‚ and waited to see if the property sold.”

When it was still on the market several months later, Mark finally put in a reduced offer, which the farmer accepted. He then faced the challenge of transforming the one-time blacksmith’s shop into a spacious modern home without losing the integrity of the original building.

“I saw it as a two-phase project,” says Mark. “I was on my own at the time, so I decided to move in and get used to the place before deciding exactly how I was going to design and develop it. While I was drawing up plans for the living space, I wanted to create an extension which would include a port for my motorbike and a log store.”

It would be a simple building in local stone which matched the existing property, but Mark faced a battle to get planning permission. “What should have taken six weeks dragged on for seven months, because there was an issue from a neighbour over the right to view,” he says. “I had to bring in a planning consultant and the chief planner for Selby District Council. Luckily, they agreed that the view from the neighbouring house wouldn’t be affected because it was a low extension.”

While this was going on, Mark carried out a mini alteration to the internal structure. The farmer had created a single storey living area, open to the original roof trusses with an open loft area above. Mark lowered this area during a “long weekend of DIY” and installed temporary spiral staircase access so it could be used as an extra sleeping area for his daughter when she stayed.

“It wasn’t an expensive project, but it made the property more usable while I was working out what to do. I didn’t want to rush. Space was in such short supply that I had to make use of every square centimetre.”

Mark drew dozens of detailed plans before settling on a layout that included another floor, comprising two bedrooms, a bathroom and landing area. Access would be via a staircase cutting across a floor-to-ceiling window, which had once formed the main entrance to the smithy. The original downstairs bedroom would become the kitchen and an existing en suite shower room would become a small utility and store cupboard. Mark also wanted to install Velux windows in the roof to bring more light into the property.

“I wanted to design the interior so it looked like a cottage, and to create exposed areas of stone which would produce a visual contrast between old and new,” he explains. “I was also keen to include as much storage as possible, making use of sloping roof spaces and the height of the rooms to build plenty of cupboards.”

Mark’s second planning application for these changes was passed without a hitch and, eight months later, he was able to start the main building work. This meant moving out for eight weeks while the property was stripped back to a shell and two steel support beams were installed across the width of the building to support the new floor.

Internal rafters and purlins were propped while the timber floor joists were fixed into place and fitted with new boards. Original beams were then cut back to allow insulated stud walls to be fixed into place.

“The two main beams had to be cut tight against the wall so the builders used handsaws,” says Mark. “They took about half an hour to get through but, half way through, the beam moved a couple of millimetres for the first time in about 200 years, and the cracking noise it made was deafening. The four builders in there ran for their lives — I think they thought the roof was caving in! A structural engineer had warned them it might happen, but they still had to pluck up the courage to come back in and finish the job. “When they did, they put up scaffolding just in case and worked very hard to put up the stud walls so there was extra support when the scaffolding came down again.”

With the first floor in place, it was the turn of the stonemasons to build a wide fireplace and internal walls downstairs, creating a rough-hewn finish in keeping with Mark’s desire for a ‘renovated cottage’ look.

The bespoke free-standing oak staircase just came within building regulations by allowing a 2.1 metre clearance between the first step of the turn and a beam above. All the plumbing has been encased within the hollow wall space behind the utility area to keep unsightly pipework to a minimum and the property was completely re-wired. Mark was granted planning permission to add another window downstairs, in order to draw more light into the kitchen.

“I came on site every two days,” says Mark. “I am used to dealing with big spaces through my work [Mark is an interior designer] but a small space – especially one which is personal – is much more of a challenge. It’s very hard to make it look light and open and still achieve everything you want in a home. I had to think: how big do I want my living space; how small can I make the kitchen so that it still looks spacious; how many bedrooms do I want; how big does the bathroom have to be? It’s all about balance and prioritising, like having a small dining area and fitting the bathroom into the roof space even if it means you have to be careful not to hit your head when getting out of the bath.”

The building is simply heated. The walls are so thick and the roof so well insulated that the house relies on a log fire and a total of just five flat-panel electric radiators to provide warmth. The only compromise Mark made to his original wish-list was the downstairs flooring. He would have liked a natural timber floor with underfloor heating but the height restrictions of the room meant he couldn’t raise the floor any further. To dig up the existing concrete would have created too much upheaval, so he settled for Karndean floors throughout the ground floor.

“I have achieved exactly what I set out to do,” says Mark. “The house suits my lifestyle perfectly. It is in a brilliant location, it’s very easy to maintain, very comfortable and includes everything I need. It shows that you can combine the original integrity of a period building with modern ideas and achieve the feeling of light and space in any property — however small.”