As we’re getting closer to a start date, we thought we’d try and bring our project to life a bit more – partly as motivation for us for the final stretch, and partly because it must be almost two years since we put our first planning application in and blogged about what we’re doing. We’d originally hoped to do the build in two stages – the main barns and our listed Elizabethan Cottage, but with material and labour costs where they are at present, we’ve split it down into three to spread the cost more.
Stage 1
We have three aims for the first stage: to complete our home so we can move out of the farmhouse; get the farmhouse ready to rent; and build our ancillary storage/laundry barn. The farmhouse alterations is fairly simple – we’re putting a shower room on the top floor to provide guests with more facilities (currently we have an ensuite and a single bathroom to cater for 8 people, which isn’t really enough). We’re also vaulting the top floor ceilings so there’s more space, and hopefully adding solar tiles on the roof. Our current roof tiles are asbestos which would normally be fine if we weren’t touching them, but we need to lift the tiles to put in the insulation and so we need to get rid of them anyway. Other than freshening up the paintwork and furnishing the property, there’s nothing more we need to do to that building.
To get our home ready, we need to get all the groundworks done – installing services and drainage etc, which we’ll do for the whole site at the same time (less disruption later down the line). We’re moving into one end of the shippon, which will be extended to give us more room to turn it into a two bed bungalow. There’ll be a corridor running through the building and past the bedrooms and bathroom, leading to an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area. Annoyingly we’re limited in our ability to have windows looking across the valley because it would mean changing the original stone wall, so we’ll just have the one in the extension wall. The other barns will be left at the ’shell and core’ stage once the services are in, which means they’re watertight and weatherproof.
The third piece is the ancillary building, which will house the laundry (separate rooms for us and for the cottages to use), some storage (things like spare items in case of breakages, and BBQs for the cottages), and the games room/ communal room upstairs, We’re hoping to put enough games and games consoles in there to occupy people on a rainy day, although we may end up adding to this as we go!
Stage 2
We’re expecting this stage to be a bit longer – essentially we’ll be doing the work as we raise the funds from renting out the farmhouse. This is where we’ll be completing the one-bed property at the other end of the shippon, and then the three-bed barn. Again, we want to get each rented out as soon as possible, so the order of work will depend on how far we get and what’s left to do. The one-bed will have an ensuite bathroom to save space and then again an open-plan kitchen and living area, with a small dining table. Because it’ll only ever have up to 2 people living there, it works well to combine the different spaces.
The three-bed barn will have stairs at each end leading up to a bedroom (one also with a bathroom). Because of the large barn doors, we’re keeping the middle section as a two-storey space and putting glass where the doors were, so the building feels nice and open. We’re also having internal windows in the bedrooms to get as much natural light inside. Again we’ll have an open-plan living and dining space, while the kitchen will be part of the same room but tucked underneath one of the bedrooms so it won’t be quite as spacious as the other buildings. The third bedroom will be at the other end with a bathroom next to it under the stairs.
Stage 3
This is when we tackle the listed cottage, and, other than essential works we’ll do in the meantime to stop the building falling down. We’ll turn one of the lean-tos into the kitchen and dining area, and the other into a hallway. The main room (with the inglenook fireplace) will become a large lounge, with the stairs leading up to the bedroom and ensuite. We’re hoping to restore it in a similar style to what it was originally.
Ley Farm Cottages 