The rehabilitation of an old stone farmstead around a sheltered courtyard. A new approach across a wild-flower meadow on the site of the old farmyard leads to a new building which replaced a long-demolished barn, re-enclosing the courtyard and forming a gatehouse to the farmstead.

The new building houses a generous car port and farm offices in local rubble stone walls with a guest flat above in untreated oak Through its gate is an enclosed orchard, and gardens beyond running along a stream.

The house forms the long side of the courtyard, created from the original farmhouse and a parallel barn, with a dramatic new entrance hall and staircase beyond tying them together. The addition is expressed externally in fair-faced concrete, untreated oak slats and a curved lead roof, a material palette to harmonise with the original local stone and slate roof.

Across the courtyard a further barn has been converted as a painting studio. The project uses only lime render and limewash to internal walls, with floors in stone, oak and lime, providing a softly harmonious texture to the new and converted spaces, set against large sheets of glass.

The whole farmstead is heated by one of the largest residential ground source heat pump installations in the country, with over 3km of pipes laid under an adjacent field, taking heat from the ground to serve underfloor heating and hot water.

In collaboration with James Gorst Architects

Project architect  Zoe Polya-Vitry

Photography:  Helene Binet   Studio Barn: Alex Franklin