Penham Cottage
RBW were commissioned to convert this rundown outbuilding in the grounds of the owner’s home into a holiday let and a place where visiting family could stay. We stripped the building back to just 4 stone walls, opened up the back, providing a much lighter kitchen/living room space, and extended the rear to gain a 2nd double bedroom and larger kitchen.
The poorly built lean-to attached to the back of the building had no footings and needed to be replaced with a sturdier extension. We reroofed the rear and side extension of the building adding two Dorma windows and a new chimney. New doors and windows were fitted throughout and the building was rewired. We also installed an air source heat pump and a fast car charging port.
We replaced the existing lean-to with a wrap-around extension to house a new kitchen and bedroom. We repurposed the old kitchen from the main house, built a new wine rack and added new Burr Oak worktops, taps and a butcher’s sink. The kitchen floor was tiled with limestone flagstones and underfloor heating was fitted. We removed the door between the living room and the kitchen to allow more light to flow through the house. New doors were fitted from the kitchen to the patio.
We wallpapered the downstairs bedroom, tiled the shower room and installed new sanitaryware.
To add period character to the living room we exposed the first-floor joists, fitted an oak sill to the fireplace and created Tongue & Groove window seats. We replastered the internal walls and added bullnose corners (rounded off), rather than sharp edges. Rounded corners are generally easier to maintain.
We designed and built a new staircase with under-stair storage. The exposed chimney breast in the upstairs bedroom was lime-pointed and a bathroom fitted at the top of the stairs to make the most of the intimate, open-plan space.
"Our old cottage required a total retrofit from the ground up including having an air source heat pump installed. This was successfully implemented in a professional and friendly manner. With a sympathetic eye to detail and a proactive work ethic we could not be happier with the outcome."
Oli and Claire