The Project
Transforming this historical manor house back to its former glory offered our team an exciting opportunity to pay homage to its impressive history.
The project involved reverting the two properties to a single-family dwelling; allowing our client and family to live at the house.
Project Background
We were appointed to carry out internal alterations to a large manor house in Gloucestershire and to replace the substandard modern extensions. The house is a substantial detached dwelling which was purchased as two residential units. The original house had been extended and the rooms subdivided such that the former proportions and flow of the individual country houses were lost, and the dwelling was very disjointed.
The intention was to revert the units to a single-family dwelling and for our client and family to live at the house. There is a detached coach house located within the grounds along with a double garage, stable block and menage. The property is accessed via a gravel driveway which allows off road parking for a number of vehicles, it is not visible from the road.
The east wing side of the house (overlooking the coach house) was built around 1838 and the west section (overlooking the fields) was built in 1901. A number of additions were also made in the 1970s. The original sections of the house (constructed in 1838 and 1901) comprise solid rendered masonry walls, with stone details around openings. The modern extensions are constructed of cavity rendered masonry walls. The main roof is pitched clay tiles. Commercial premises lie to the northwest of the house, to the southeast there are residential properties and to the southwest and northeast, farmland.
The principle challenge was to meet our client’s brief:
- Revert to a single-family dwelling
- New roof, windows and render
- Convert the loft into “New York Style” attic living.
- Remove the modern substandard extensions
- Construct new extensions (kitchen/dining/snug, bootroom and conservatory) in keeping with the original house, using traditional materials
- Retain and renovate original features (cornices, skirtings, architraves, doors, fireplaces, staircases, timber floors etc)
- Remodel the house to improve the layout and “flow” of the dwelling
- Retain the primary rooms in the original house.
Our Design
Our proposal delivered an attractive and appropriate scheme, reflecting the scale of the surrounding built form, producing a design that replaced the poor-quality modern extensions and brought the house back to its former glory.
The accommodation is on three floors and comprises kitchen/dining/living, utility, bootroom, study, wc, drawing room, dining room, games room, 8 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. The works were carried out under a JCT Intermediate Contract with Contractor’s Design. We completed the project from Stages 1 – 7 and were Contract Administrators.
The Pallet of Materials specified for new extensions and renovated areas:
- Walls: Render with stone detailing (to match original house)and paint
- Windows: Timber painted
- Roof: Tiles to match existing
- Doors: Timber painted
- Rainwater goods: Alumasc Heritage Cast Aluminium
The project is now complete.
