Renovating a Listed Windmill

When chef and restaurateur Paul Baker first saw Wray Common Windmill, he dreamed about turning it into an unusual restaurant. He never imagined that the striking building would dominate his life for the next few years, as he and his family battled to restore and extend the structure to create a unique and exciting home, which rises up six storeys within the original solid brick tower.

"I saw the windmill advertised in a local estate agent's window, and discovered that it was just about to be sold at auction," explains Paul. "I decided to go and have a quick look around and immediately fell in love with the building. It looked a bit like a squat, with old mattresses all over the place, but there was still something absolutely magical about it."

Paul had never previously attended a property auction, but two days after seeing the windmill he went along out of interest - expecting that it would be sold for far more than he could afford to pay. "I panicked when the hammer came down and I realised that I'd actually bought it," he admits. "We hadn't even had a survey, and I had to go home and tell Helen that I'd spent over £300,000 on a ruined windmill!"

Built in 1824, the mill, which is now listed Grade II*, was originally constructed using handmade clay bricks and stands overlooking Wray Common on the outskirts of Reigate. After 70 years the 1.6-ton cast iron wind shaft crashed through the support timbers, fracturing one of the sails and effectively ending the windmills working life.

Following a spell as an agricultural building it was converted into a dwelling in the 1960s, together with the neighbouring granary, and the two structures were linked by a flat-roofed kitchen and bathroom extension. By the time Paul and Helen Baker purchased these buildings in 2004 they had grown dilapidated and most of the milling gear had already been removed.

The couple, who have two daughters Chrissy, 17, and Hannah, 14 had renovated houses in the past but had never tackled anything on such an enormous scale. However, everything was not to go to plan and it soon became evident that the planners were not going to allow them to convert the building into a restaurant. Instead, Helen and Paul made the decision to restore it as an unusual family home, and successfully applied for planning consent to build a new kitchen extension designed to mirror the existing granary.

"We were very lucky with our builders," says Paul. "At first we employed a Polish labourer, who told us that his brother was a talented carpenter. We flew him over from Poland to work on the cap of the windmill, and bought a caravan so that they could live on site. It turned out that their other brother was a master builder, so in the end all three of them were working on the mill. They were absolutely fantastic and took a real pride in the renovation - as did our friend David Tate, who took on the role of design consultant and project manager so that I had the time to continue to run my restaurant business."

Prior to work commencing on the listed building it was important to carefully catalogue, draw, label and photograph all of the component parts. The badly damaged cap was removed from the top of the tower and taken to a hangar at Redhill Aerodrome for extensive repairs, after which it was returned and craned back into position together with the cradle, wind shaft and brake wheel. The replacement walkway, staging and six-bladed fantail were slotted together and every last nut, bolt and bracket faithfully replicates the rusty, damaged or lost originals.

When it came to renovating the main tower there was failed tar, flaking and missing masonry and cracks, damp, rust and rot to contend with, and the entire building was ultimately encased in scaffolding, tented in tarpaulin and grit-blasted inside and out.

With all the floors, stairs, electrics and fittings removed, the exposed beams and joists could also be carefully grit-blasted and the damp building could finally begin to dry out. Botched brick repairs were redone and any holes and cracks professionally filled and repaired so that, six months later, the tower was officially declared dry.

Injection damp-proofing and waterproof render were applied around the base of the tower walls, and new window cowlings were designed and fitted which deflect rainwater away from the sloping Gothic arched windows. Painted white, these have a removable aluminium outer cladding to aid re-tarring. Finally, the scaffolding could begin to come down revealing the restored tower following its year-long hibernation.

Work then continued inside the structure: sound-reduction floors were laid, the ground floor level in the tower was raised to ensure that windows would be at eye level and the hand-crafted sweeping staircases began to take shape.

"One side effect of the mill vibrating as it operated for 70 years was that the tower had tilted slightly towards the south-west - the direction of the prevailing wind - which meant that we also needed to level all of the floors," explains Helen.

Gothic arched oak doors were designed and made to complement the towers windows, and reclaimed oak from the original windmill cap has been used wherever possible for cabinets and mirror frames - featuring heavily in the new extension. Four of the eight curb rings create an oak frame effect in the farmhouse kitchen and dining room, and the other four rings form the curved uprights to the front porch where the remaining millstone acts as a fitting doorstep.

The granary, re-roofed and insulated, has also undergone a major facelift and now provides a spacious ground floor master bedroom and en suite. French doors open onto the patio, with its views of the pond and common, and the half-timbered walls and hips blend perfectly with the remaining loft beams. Outside, the six-inch featheredge was removed and replaced with authentic seven-inch boards made to order and stained.

The old link building has been completely reconstructed, and the back wall was removed to form an open plan entrance hall and reception space that leads directly into the large farmhouse kitchen. The flat roof has been replaced with a vast self-cleaning glass atrium that floods the whole link with light enabling soaring views upwards of the windmill tower.

"Before we could build the new extension we decided to excavate a hole for a circular wine cellar," Paul explains. "We got the idea while we were buying oak for the mill in France and visited a restaurant which had a glass viewing platform over its wine cellar."

The Bakers' newly formed cellar is accessed through a trapdoor with granite steps in the kitchen floor, beside which a circular viewing panel of black glass looks down onto the lit racks of wine below. This feature has been echoed by the oak framed kitchen cabinets, which are inset with black tinted glass and fitted with granite worktops. Even the appliances are black, and the end result is an unusual contemporary take on a traditional oak farmhouse kitchen.

"We did deals wherever possible and bought several things on eBay - including our range cooker and the Victorian cast iron spiral staircase, which leads up from the second floor bedroom in the tower," says Helen. "When we got it home we found that it was just a little too short, so we've created a round wooden plinth which built it up and looks like an intentional feature."

The final stage of the project will be to reinstate a set of dummy sails, made from laminated veneer lumber, which will span 60 feet and remain static in a St. Andrews cross position. The windmill will then be completely restored to its full glory.

"This project has been my life for the past two years, and I've absolutely loved doing it - although I think I've driven everyone else mad because it's been all I've talked about!" laughs Paul. "It cost more than double what we expected and has consumed every spare minute of our time, but we are extremely proud of what we've achieved and all of the local people weve talked to are very happy that such an important landmark building has been saved."

Why they won

Paul and Helens' conversion of this local landmark has been achieved with no small amount of determination and bags of vision. Creating expansive spaces out of a windmill is very difficult and the ground floor atrium arrangement is particularly successful, with the rest of the floors functioning well as bedroom and study accommodation.

Further reading:

• How to spot the best conversion opportunities
• A Green Mill Conversion
• Transforming a Gate Lodge into a Spacious Home