The Manor House is a listed grade II building in the heart of Buckinghamshire. The owner wanted us to convert an old outhouse and attach it to the main house to improve the flow. There was an old inglenook fireplace, which we managed to restore and keep, and there were two brick built water tanks set in the floor and an old water pump.
The building was in such a poor state but once we had taken off the roof, extended the front elevation and knocked out some of the walls, things really started to take shape. We created a new walk-in shower room/cloakroom and a family TV room that offers plenty of space for relaxing. We also gained height and character by constructing a beautiful vaulted ceiling with new solid oak king posts, trusses and purlins.
The second part of the brief was to open up the (very) dark kitchen and provide views of the back garden from it. To do this, we took the roof off of the large rear lean-to, and stripped back and exposed the main rear wall. It wasn’t quite as easy as initially anticipated, as we uncovered some structural issues.
However, not easily fazed, we soon knocked out several walls and added new supporting beams to form a large, open, sunny room. Then we added eco- friendly and economical underfloor heating, some high-tech downlighting and a range of hand-built kitchen units before finishing it off with natural limestone tiles. Now light floods in through the newly fitted bi-folding doors and the view from the room is simply fantastic!
The new hand-built, solid wood and granite kitchen
The Manor House before work commenced