The little stone barn has really had it in for us since the beginning. When the lintel fell down above the doorway on our first viewing, that should really have been the giveaway. But do we ever learn? No. Absolutely not.
The whole building is less than 6m x 3m and has a wonky edge, so it is a slightly odd shape, but has a tonne of character and loads of the ‘P word’ (potential).
Honestly, it’s one of the things that sold the house to us in the first place. How many people get to say they have a stone barn?! So we know how fortunate we are, even if it is currently driving us a bit bonkers!
In the first round of decision making we had architects suggesting that we join it to the house with a glass link, that is be a dedicated office space or a TV room. But we made the decision early on – it is going to be our very own home GYM!
But before we get to the detailed design we are focusing right now on stabilising the structure. The building has been quite badly damaged by the renovation 50 or so years ago and one of the main walls partially collapsed this winter in the wind. So we wrapped it in tarpaulin, stopped and waited for the weather to improve.
That means that we are just getting around to the repairs now.
We need to rebuild the whole wall, place padstones for a steel ridge beam, which will take the weight off the old elm truss, and build a whole new roof.
Add roof lights, a window, plus digging up and replacing the floors.
Oh, and did I mention bringing electrics and water over, building a mezzanine floor and insulating?!
So it’s not going to be a quick job, but hey, we’re here for the journey, right?!
