Extending Upwards For a Four Bedroom Home

Photographs of Manor Cottage taken before its recent reconstruction show a distinctly sad-looking property. What started life in 1898 as two small one-up one-down workers cottages for the adjacent manor house had morphed over time into something far more ambitious. The cottages were joined together in the 1950s. Then, in the 1970s, the original floor area was virtually trebled when vast flat-roofed extensions were tacked onto the sides and rear.

By the time Robert and Caroline Orme purchased the property in 2004, these areas had fallen into complete disrepair, and the structure was no longer watertight. Despite the dated dcor, peeling wallpaper and soggy carpets, they instantly decided to make an offer paying over the asking price to secure the ramshackle building.

"It was being used to house staff from the manor, and had multiple bathrooms and kitchens but only two official bedrooms," Caroline recalls. "We fell in love with the location - there's a stream flowing through the garden and views to open parkland - so our aim was to convert it into a four bedroom home with large living areas suitable for a young family."

A positive initial response from the local planners convinced the Ormes that it should be possible to remodel and extend the property whilst still retaining the existing footprint. They approached four architectural practices and ultimately chose Jacob Pot, a local architect who was recommended by one of Caroline's work colleagues and is well known in the area for his successful planning applications.

"We wanted to retain and expose the original features in the Victorian building, but we were happy to combine these with a more contemporary feel in the newer parts of the house. At the time I think we underestimated exactly what it would entail, and quite what a gamble we'd taken," Robert admits. "Jacob is very creative and had real vision. He was much more positive than the other architects about how we could achieve what we needed, and we immediately fell in love with his design."

This was the Ormes' first renovation project and, although they found it incredibly daunting at the time, they also thoroughly enjoyed the process - partly due to their fastidious builder, Richard Burston, who acted as project manager and encouraged the various subcontractors to keep to a tight six-month deadline.

"We moved to the area because of work commitments, and were already renting a house in the village when we bought Manor Cottage," says Robert, a consultant anaesthetist who is required to live within ten miles of the Cheltenham hospital where he works. "Everything we saw when we were house hunting had already been renovated or extended. It would have been difficult to justify ripping things out just to make our own mark, so finding such a run-down property gave us the license we needed to completely redesign the layout to suit our needs. And paying £2,000 a month out in rent was a great incentive to stay focused and complete the house as quickly as possible!"

The project proved to be particularly challenging because the original stone building required a huge amount of modification. One end wall of the old cottage was demolished, complete with the chimney, and two new stone and blockwork gable elements have been constructed to the rear of the house, between which the single storey living room now stands.

A complex process of buying and selling salvaged stone ensured that the builders always had enough materials to work with. "The gables went up before some of the old stone was released, so we needed to match in other stone during the early stages," says Caroline. "It was a juggling act selling our old beams to reclamation yards and then having to buy in different-sized beams later on."

Spacious accommodation has been formed by erecting new first floor extensions to the side and rear of the property, with a pitched roof over the existing flat-roofed areas. "Working on the roof was central to the whole design, but some neighbours wrongly reported that there were bats living in the house which meant that everything ground to a total halt while English Nature arranged a survey," Robert recalls. "We wouldn't have been able to go ahead if they'd found anything, because it was necessary to open up the roof on either side and to re-slate the entire building."

Despite the amount of building work involved, the Ormes are pleased that the front elevation remains relatively unchanged. "When people walk inside the house they're amazed by the space," says Caroline, a GP, who designed the interiors during the project. The central galleried lounge area is a wonderful feature, but it also links the different areas and allows easy flow and movement throughout the house.

Now, instead of a disproportionate warren of flats, with dark, poky rooms and black-painted beams, Manor Cottage boasts four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a dressing room on the first floor. Downstairs, the vaulted sitting room has been constructed with steel-reinforced Douglas fir flitch beams, and is overlooked by the contemporary glass balustrade of the galleried landing. There is a separate dining room on the ground floor, a study and a cosy playroom for the couples children, Jamie and Harry.

"I suppose it would have been simpler to knock down the old house and start again, but we like the quirky features the old beams and irregular shapes," says Caroline. "We fitted windows into the existing gaps, which meant making certain compromises, but there are hidden-away areas that give the place real character."

After a six-month period the family moved into the house, making do with an Aga and a sink in the kitchen while the builders worked around them to fit the bespoke units. Replica flagstone floors have been laid both here and in the dining room, and are detailed enough to convince even the most practised eye. "Our only regret is that we didn't lay underfloor heating in the kitchen," says Caroline. "We have it under the stone floors in the bathrooms and it really is fantastic.

"We probably havent made any money from this project, because we specified high-quality materials and spent our budget on the fabric of the building and items that are integral to the house, such as the oak joinery, the gallery and the glass balustrade for the staircase," Caroline explains. "The reality is that we plan to enjoy living here, so it was important to get it right. We now have the perfect house in the perfect setting, which more than makes up for a few months of hard work."

Further reading:

• Rebuilding with Reclaimed Materials
• From 1970s House to Contemporary Home
• A Stone Extension