Grade II listed house extension & remodel

Client brief
Situated within a Northamptonshire village, this property is a Grade II listed, seven bedroom home which dates back to approximately 1840. Set in two hectares of gardens and overlooking paddocks, the house is built in a traditional Georgian style using conventional construction materials such as coursed rubble stone with Ashlar detailing. Alongside the main house were a number of ancillary outbuildings including a garage and gym. 

The owners asked us to to refurbish the property in order to reorganise the way the house flows and functions. They also wished to replace the existing garage and gym with an architecturally designed swimming pool extension.

The process
The swimming pool and linking corridor were both designed by our team to sit comfortably alongside the house and in context to the property and surrounding farm buildings. When designing the proposed extension and refurbishment, we were careful to consider the various constraints of the property, ensuring that the current driveway remained much the same, while increasing the size of the entrance way so there is more room for cars to pull in off the road.

Whilst much of the existing internal layout remains the same we have reconfigured the house to make it work far better as a family home. The owners previously entered the house through the back door and wanted to reinstate the front door. With the front door now prioritised, there is an axial view, upon entering, of three directions; south to the stairs and reception rooms, east to the kitchen and pool extension and west to the utility rooms. The kitchen has been moved from the west to the east wing, and is now the heart of the home with all the benefits of natural light and context within the site. The west wing has been opened up for space for boot rooms and laundry.

The result
Work has now been completed and the owners are delighted to be back in their beautiful family home, with the new flow inside the house and the new connecting pool and gym extension outside. Design work is sympathetic with the existing historic fabric, reinstating the original layout to the house. The result is an elegant intervention to this prime example of a Grade II listed building.