This bespoke project in Billsborough took an existing dwelling and its attached barn and reimagined them as one complete countryside home. Rather than treating the buildings separately, the brief was to unlock the potential of the whole plot – converting the barn, extending the footprint and refurbishing the original house so everything reads as a single, well-composed residence.
The barn itself was carefully converted to provide new living accommodation, making full use of the volume, character and outlook while meeting modern performance standards. A new extension was then introduced to tie the different elements together and create the kind of open-plan spaces, circulation and views that a contemporary family home demands. At the same time, the existing house was stripped back, re-planned where required and fully renovated so that its fabric, services and finishes sit comfortably alongside the new work.
Across the combined home, the focus was on generous but practical rooms, strong connections to the surrounding landscape and a level of specification that feels appropriate to the setting. Externally, the architecture balances original rural character with clean, modern detailing; internally, a consistent palette of finishes and considered joinery links old and new to create one clear, coherent whole.
The result is a complete transformation of the original buildings into a single, characterful countryside home – a property that now feels purpose-built for how the owners live, while retaining the sense of place that comes from its agricultural past.
