This is an ancient farmstead in the heart of North Devon. A truly fascinating project, on every level. Pure conservation but also practical rebuild into a family home. The skills and knowledge base for a scheme like this is not to be taken lightly, cob repair, archeology and extensive use of lime.
Lime putty and hydraulic lime, no cement on this job ANYWHERE!
Timber repair and conservation and traditional vernacular craft skills will rebuild Upcott Barton.

The history of the place is also fascinating, Gytha, King Harold’s mother owned the manor of  Hertiton (now Hartland)  after the Norman conquest Henry l sub divided the area and Upcott was now owned by William Fitzgerald. The area was owned by five generations of de Hortons, then by marriage it passed to the Thornes in 1500′s it attracted a tax of £10, which was the highest in the parish, so a landed estate of some value.

Post medieval, the Thornes were still in residence  right up until the civil war (1642), again this was the prime ‘real estate’ in the area attracting the highest tax burden.

This site is alive with history!

The split tree is an Ash. The locals call it ‘Split tree’ !

Barns have been converted into different uses since the beginning of time. One Season cattle or stock may have been ‘wintered’ in it, the next it’s full of grain and hay. Barns offer protection from the elements in a very functional way, if ‘form follows function’; barns are the embodiment of that edict. When converting a barn think function! This idea of purity or directness is the essence of a good conversion.

What have you got?

A survey is essential, a condition survey and a topographical survey, this gives you the facts in terms of condition and size. Can you fit into it?

Condition is important, in Devon cob is now understood far more widely than it was ten or twenty years ago, the ‘heritage industry’ has saved many cob buildings simply by raising the awareness about this simple cheap, recycle-able, green material. A good structural engineer can offer appropriate solutions to repair these buildings (not concrete ring beams- as was the fashion twenty years ago!).

Cob fails in specific areas, often at corners, as the material has little tensile strength or as a result of the thatch being removed and heavier roof loads being applied, like that of cheap concrete tiles or having the eaves ‘copped’ back like a brick built house.

What to do with it?

Barns often look huge but when you start to mark out the spaces they shrink quiet quickly. barns are vernacular buildings, and as such we have an intrinsic understanding of the size of them, modules of 5-6 metres across to 17-20metes long under a pitched roof, this is the archetypal barn.

Large doors and few windows, stone or cob walls. We know what a barn looks like, but do we know what to do with it?

What’s it made of?

Cob, stone, brick, block and render, slate or thatch, even corrugated tin, (the saviour of many a vernacular building), also the choice of fancy car dealerships as a roof and waling material in Australia they consider it a vernacular material!

When you start to study your barn you’ll notice there aren’t too many windows on the north side, you’ll notice you can drive into the middle of it or right through it,  you’ll notice the roof is a long way from the floor and there’s no first floor, you’ll notice it’s quite dark!

History

Knowing it’s previous use or function may lead you in a certain direction. A threshing porch, (the semi-hexagonal or octagonal) extension here the oxon or horses would provide the ‘horsepower’ (cattle-power’ doesn’t sound right!) to drive the thresher, this a favourite vernacular form to convert to a living room or kitchen, these were often simple framed structures and thus lend themselves to the insertion of glazing to creates a fully glazed space.

Understanding the vernacular, is a key to unlocking the possibilities.

I favour the insertion of a room or building within the barn form, I think many of the ‘usual’ solutions lead to a domestication of the country side, we need to respect these simple, noble structures. Planners have reacted against the ‘housing estate’ approach to barn conversions and are less likely to support this sort of approach that makes a barn look like a house. It takes a leap of faith to create a good barn conversion, too many barns are simply ruined by conversion, get some design help you only et one chance.

Barns are traditionally dark! This is for various reasons, but you want light, you’ve got lots of space! The roof often holds the answer, light from above! This respects the wall architecture and doesn’t have to alter the form of the building. Roof lights can have an industrial feel, and a barn is a kind of industrial building. Large areas of glass can be let into the roof this way.

A room within room is a good solution, the scramble to grab the whole floor area is a bit obvious and dull, it offers little interest in the use of space. Windows set back with deep porches and bridges linking across the cross passage can make for a very exciting space, and this sort of ‘move’ celebrates the large volume that is a barn. Barns are often in two halves or thirds and thinking in terms of specific functions for each sector can work well.

A non-sentimental design approach.

Horse brasses and black beams are very a odd choice, this sort of pastiche is not to be encouraged. Instead think about the strong muscular building you have and how you can ‘intervene’ with a soft touch and create spaces which respect the original fabric of the barn with out destroying it, I don’t mean leaving patches of cob exposed, I mean a comprehensive re-evaluating of the principle of ‘barn conversion’, you’ll have to do this if want planning consent! Design time and an understanding what has gone before will help you unlock the future potential.

We all hear the ‘S’ word banded about, but what do we really do about being more ‘Sustainable’?

In truth we make excuses not to be green.

Here are a few easy ways you can lift your ‘Green’ credentials.

Many ‘green’ issues are based around the simple principle of conservation. If we save the energy we make we don’t need to make more energy, we limit the demand. So conserve in order to preserve.

When you insulate the loft why not use a sheep’s’ wool insulation (Thermafleece), or a recycled newspaper (Warmcell). Both are clean and green, both every bit as good as the more synthetic alternatives, but they don’t use anything like as much fossil fuel to create them.

Use paints that are made using natural materials and not oil derivatives, these paints are made with ingredients such as chalk, clay, linseed and bergamot oil.
(Primasol and Levasol).

Save Water

I’m not on a meter, why should I bother? We should all bother, water prices will rise if we don’t conserve our resources, we could then run out, we are on an island!

During the past two decades the demand for water for our homes, industry and agriculture has been steadily increasing, resulting in recent water shortages in some parts of Britain.
Forecasts suggest that this upward trend will continue and this, together with the effects of global warming and the climatic uncertainties of the future, increase the need to conserve and carefully manage our water supplies.

It is relatively easy to reduce demand for water in buildings substantially while maintaining modern hygiene standards.

The first step in water conservation comprises simple and probably familiar measures such as showering instead of bathing, turning off taps and maintaining taps and appliances.

The next step is to install or specify water-efficient appliances.

The WC typically uses 30 – 40% of total household water use, and even more in commercial premises, so the potential for water saving is huge. Reducing the water use of conventional toilets can make them fairly ineffective and unhygienic. Ultra-efficient toilets are specifically designed to operate effectively at low flush volumes, and are by far the best solution for reducing toilet water use.

Garden usage and hosepipe bans!

Garden use only accounts for about 6% of average domestic consumption but most of this occurs in dry summers when water supplies are most stressed. Simple conservation measures can make a big difference. Mulching the bare soil can reduce the need for water, pouring the washing up water over the border is a great use of what is normally considered waste.
Rainwater can be saved in water butts, but for many people, particularly with small gardens, water butts can take up an excessive amount of space and look rather inelegant. Wall mounted butts are available. ‘Glee Best’ won a new product award for their wall mounted Butt that can hold 100 litres and doesn’t take up much space.

Window Replacement

Window replacement… chose wisely there are lots of claims about windows. I consider timber is the most sustainable, or a timber Aluminium mix, the best of both worlds, no maintenance and made from a renewable resource, or at least very recyclable.
What criteria should you apply when choosing windows?

To minimise…
* Impact on natural resources
* Level of CO2 emissions in production and recycling
* Use and emissions of toxic materials.

Glass

Low ‘E’, (emissivity glass) is the buzzword’ in glazing these days, as is self-cleaning.
Low E double-glazing units offer improvements of over 60% in thermal insulation when compared with ordinary double-glazing. This means 60% less heat loss through windows and doors. Even compared with some other energy saving glasses, low E is over 30% more efficient.
Low E glass is a micro thin layer of silver alloys on the inside of the glazing unit which acts as a heat reflective layer allowing solar radiation into the building, but minimising heat loss. The coating also has the additional benefit of largely filtering out ultra-violet rays, thus reducing glare and minimising fabric fade.

Pilkington do a ‘K’ glass and Solar Glass (Saint Gobain) also has a Low E glass ‘Cool Lite’, (the E stands for Emissivity- the amount of radiation reflected back).

Timber Treatment

When we do that loft conversion or the extension we can use a better solution than the standard solvent and heavy metal based preservatives.

Many people are concerned about toxic chemicals in the home, and particularly those used in the course of building or renovation work. In fact, conventional timber preservatives may be one of the worst causes of this indoor pollution, causing potential problems during application, and for years afterwards as they ‘off-gas’ out of the timber.

Yet an alternative is available, which is both highly effective and remarkably safe.
Inorganic compounds of the naturally occurring element, Boron, have long been known to prevent or eradicate fungal and insect attack in timber. Inorganic borates really are the answer to all those concerned about the health and environmental impact of conventional timber preservation.

Boron based timber preservatives, are available for the retail and professional market, as well as natural alternatives to exterior treatments such as creosote and tanalith treatment. (CCA (Copper, Chrome and Arsenic!))

What ever you plan to do to your home, there is a ‘greener’ option and the health benefits and the environmental benefits will offset the slightly higher price of being ‘green’.
Use the ‘internet’ to source products and download information to compare prices and availability of products. Type in Green building products and you’ll find hundreds to chose from.

If your home had a label on it, next to the barcode, like a food packet, what would it say about your attitude to the environment?

Adding house value is different to adding space. Space, i.e. more square metres generally adds at least the cost of the works, but that’s just building, its not design or architecture and rarely adds value.

Defining value is pretty conceptual, but when we see something that works, we know it has value. Value is one of those intangibles, precious to some irrelevant to others, we make value choices every day, food, clothes and how and where we spend our time and money. Value can be elusive or obvious!

Architecture vs. Building.

Architecture is more subtle than building.

Architecture is the ‘X factor’, that special something, that opportunity you’d never think of, that combination of space and light and colour, texture or material. That’s what PDM Design in Topsham, Exeter do and we do it well, who else can? PDM can create dramatic tension by changing the position of a front door or altering a large window to a smaller one that frames a view rather than gives it to you all at once.

PDM look at the composition that is your house or home, and garden, we do it this in an artful way that speaks about form, materials and context with emphasis on the details, its the ‘sum of the parts’. Also what you put in will make it, furniture, art and your personality it all adds up to an experience of a place, not just a place. This is adding value.

Spending but not adding value.

The usual suspects when it comes to adding value are the well-intentioned errors made by maintenance shy householders. Replacement windows, kitchens, bathrooms and conservatories are the obvious ones and they are usually done so badly that they add no value at all, often they present the potential purchaser with a cost rather than an asset. Get some help to make the right decisions.

The above list only add value if the alteration or upgrade is a leap not a step, so you do need to spend on these items but spend wisely. Typically, the sink, hob, fridge triangle in any kitchen is a matter of personal preference, so choose tiles worktops and colour very carefully, remember a good design idea is reinforced with every subsequent design decision.
A good worktop will last for ever, a cheaper laminate will last five years if you are lucky, choose wisely.

Information and advice is free.

Get advice, shop around. The sooner you start to look, the sooner you will start to see the things you want to have or upgrade to. Make a scrapbook of ‘tear-outs’ and collect images on your phone of with your camera.

But what adds value?

More space done well, adds value. See the opportunities, you may need help with this bit explore your options. Good decorative order and an understanding of colour and colour combinations, take a look at your soft furnishings and go to a good hotel, look how the designers have themed the rooms the halls and lobbies and so on, tune into these approaches, adopt some of the ideas you see in a place you like, this will add value. I see so many homes where the eclectic mix of colour and styles adds up to a confusing mess; keep it simple, it gets complicated all on its own! Extensions and loft conversions are usually affordable ways to add space, don’t fall into the developer trap of trying to add bedrooms in the hope of adding value, add utility and space, connect with the garden and make over the garden, it’s the outside room that’s often forgotten.

If you are selling now you may well need to make your property stand out. How are you going to do this and at what cost?

Is the entrance right, I see so many houses that don’t even attempt to conceal the bins, I also see inventive creative ways these ugly lumps of plastic are hidden away under planting and hard landscaping.

There are the regular items, good décor and well kept gardens and a generally tidy home that are all good value indicators, but do you have a WOW space, that family room the opens onto a terrace which is paved in the same tile as the kitchen that creates a seamless inside outside space, or a great loft conversion master suite with en suite and a fantastic rooftop view, or perhaps one space living on the ground floor or a home cinema room. All these elements are adding value, as long as your market of potential customers value these things, so don’t over capitalise, is a swimming pool adding value, I don’t think so, its more of an overhead in our climate.

We have done many ‘makeover projects with an extension that have tripled the value of a property, a house people wouldn’t turn their head to look at is now a local talking point, a few deft strokes of a pencil and a few wise material choices and you can transform an ugly duckling into a great house.
Take a fresh look at your house and ask your self what latent potential lies here, untapped and how can we unlock this to create a better place which adds value.

We believe that celebrating the ordinary, as we call it, creates the extraordinary and adds real value, we all want something a little bit different, but not too different. There is a skill in striking the right balance.

The cost of moving!

Have you considered the benefits of staying where you are? Have you unlocked all the potential space benefits from your home and garden?

Stamp duty, surveys and legal fees, and that’s just for starters, not to mention the uncertainty and worry that is buying and selling a house. The fragile chain of buyers! The time wasted for no apparent reason and the vagaries of the whole process can leave you exhausted and stressed.

House buying and selling is hard work and a process shrouded in mystery and confusion. It is a linear process and like a chain only as good as the weakest link, when one link snaps then it all falls apart.

Improving is not without its pains. But if you approach it in the right way this process will deliver more space, light and utility than you thought possible. No need to risk relocating with new neighbours, schools and friends, there’s no need to start all over again.

If you were going to sell up and buy elsewhere, you’d use a solicitor for the conveyance, a surveyor for the survey and you’d be happy to exchange contracts and complete contracts. Improving, or any building project, requires the same dedication to process and detail.

Call for help.

You will need professional help, you will but you might not like to admit it.

I can cite manyl apocryphal stories where people didn’t follow the basic rules and are left with un-sellable houses and houses without various basic safeguards, like a Building Regulations Completion Certificate or even planning consent, so they can’t sell even if they wanted to!

This is more stressful and expensive in the long run; make it easy invest in good professional advice.

Buying certainty.

I often hear clients claim architects and surveyors are too expensive; these people are, by avoiding professionals, buying a far higher degree of risk with every pound spent! We easily save you our fee in delivering the project correctly and in the proper way.

Contractors are there to plan the building work, cost it and to build it. A programme of works and a cash flow forecast are required, and so is a price document stating what has been priced and any exclusions or ‘provisional sums’, these are essentials, even on a small extension. These documents demonstrate that the job has been priced, without these basics and a contract; of course, you may be heading for a world of turmoil and disappointment.

Beware of the ‘Provisional sum’ this is code for guessing! If your preferred contractors puts in provisional sums ask what details/information they require in order to get a firm price. Estimates are no good, you want a price!

Get organised and make it easy.

A fresh look.

So how do you realise more from what you’ve got? The answer is, take a fresh look at the problem. Often, your lifestyle has changed, the children may have grown up and left, you want to rearrange the rooms for the way you live, you might work from home now, or want to, so a home office in the house or the garden is what you need?

Ask an architect over for a free no obligation consultation. Have a book of ‘tear outs’ from glossy magazines handy. Arrange these images in order of preference, colour texture, or buy room, bathroom ideas, kitchen ideas, flooring ideas and so on. The more you put it, the more you get out.

Costs.

If you’re planning an extension, a good yardstick rate is £1100/m2, so for a two-storey extension allow £2200/m2. Professional fees, architects are about 10% of the construction cost and a structural engineer is normally required for some structural calculations allow 2 per cent of the construction costs.

Opportunities.

There are many ways to assess the opportunities latent in your home, look up for a loft conversion or outside for a garden room, focussing on the inside-outside relationship is very popular now.

The back door

The relationship between kitchen and garden has changed over the years; the back door has given way to a ‘bi-fold sliding wall partition with level threshold’! They’re great, and really bring the inside out and the outside in. Ideal for those al-fresco drinks parties or informal dining.

The Garden Room

A dedicated office, study, gym or playroom is a great way to move the kids out or an escape for you.

Extend

Treat yourself to that en-suite and dressing room, would you get one if you moved? Add a room above the garage or to the side. This adds value but don’t use too much garden. Extend your living room and create that open fire you‘ve always wanted.

Makeover

We’ve all seen the television makeover shows and everything looks great on TV, but in the real world things are instant, they take planning and preparation. A new worktop and new cupboard doors and drawer fronts with a new floor finish can really transform your kitchen. Bedroom or living rooms need some paint and some new furniture or a set of French windows and a small Juliet balcony.

Makeovers are not just internal. A dull exterior can be given a new lease of life with timber cladding or slate hanging or even rendering the brickwork and painting it. The guttering can really alter the look of your house, transforming it from ordinary to special, guttering is available in many colours and materials, Copper and Galvanised are very chic, (if guttering can be chic?). Windows and doors can be painted to brighten them up. A more radical thing to do is to change the roof covering, say from artificial slate to the real thing, it may not add any more than the cost of this transformation but it will look a great deal better and last longer. Use new slate not salvaged, as using salvaged encourages people to strip perfectly good slate roofs and sell the slates on.

Good Luck!

Luck shouldn’t play any part in this structured process. Set targets deadlines and be realistic. Monitor the process you are the project manager. This is a linear process but you are in the driving seat.

You have probably stopped noticing the outside of your house.

Stop and spend half an hour walking around your house with a camera and a notebook, photograph and write down all the things you aren’t happy with or you’ve grown bored of.

Your motivation might be selling, or staying put for a long time or you simply want a project and you feel you’ve rather neglected the appearance of the house. People often stop looking at the basic stuff.

Walls, roof and windows are being neglected you may believe these jobs are too expensive or too complex, you need to revisit the outside of your house every now and again, it adds value and you can make it look a whole lot better.

Start with the main elements, do a ‘what if’ exercise.

Roof

What if I took those drab concrete tiles off and had the roof slated, would that look better, would that add value? These are important questions.
Roof finish is not really a DIY project but while the scaffolding is up you can do other things. You can replace windows, fascia boards and guttering. Leaking gutters are the biggest source of damp problems in houses.

Windows

Windows or fenestration, are crucial, the casements (side hung like doors) or sashes (sliding up & down) and their configuration define the elevation.

Timber is my preferred choice, hardwoods from sustainable (FSC Forestry Stewardship Council) sources are best, get a local joiner to price to supply and fit them, choose good quality window furniture, this is a major boost to a cheap ‘off the peg’ developer window. Upgrade your glazing to 24mm double glazed units with a self cleaning coating, that reduces dirt and grime on the glass, this improves the windows thermal performance, saving you money on heating bills!
Windows can make a huge difference; just think of those thin steel windows, so popular in the 1950’s compared to good quality timber windows found in many listed buildings. The timber ones add charm and character, the steel ones are too functional with nothing very appealing about them.

Walls

The cheapest way to cheer up your walls if they are brick is to paint them, yes it’s a maintenance issue, but that gives you opportunities for colour variations. Cladding materials like, timber shiplap or weatherboarding work very well, as does Western Red Cedar, Oak or Sweet Chestnut.
Slate hanging that replaces concrete plain tile is always an improvement. Never use artificial slate or tiles or cladding materials, they don’t age gracefully and won’t add value, stay clear of plastics and opt for locally sourced materials if possible, national if not. Italian marble looks great in Italy!
The walls or elevation can be thought of as having three parts, (tripartite) or horizontal bands. The plinth zone roots the building to the ground. In traditional Devon cob houses and barns this plinth was made of stone. This stopped ‘splash’ damage from the gutter-less thatch roof above and stopped or reduced rising damp. You can paint on a plinth.

The middle section is the main wall area with the principle rooms behind, have a close look at the window size, the windows here are usually a bit bigger at this level, the bedroom windows above being slightly smaller and often with a different walling material at this high level.
Another way to ‘dress-up’ a wall is to fix some trellis or garden wire to it and grow an attractive climbing shrub up the wall. Wisteria in flower is stunning; Virginia creeper and other climbers, Roses or Clematis add colour and texture.

The ground plane

This is often overlooked, literally! Surface is important, Bitmac or Tarmac can be dull and uninteresting, stamped concrete is better and many more specialist firms are around to do this. Brick paving or stone paving can really enhance your gravel paths! Use natural materials if you can afford to, but there are some very good concrete slabs about that blend well with similar colours and textures. Don’t go for a huge swathes of paving. Make small areas and paths with salvage materials as borders or margins, blending is the key with the ground plane. A timber deck running up to the lawn is a favourite of mine as this gives two easy on the feet surfaces.

Cost

These changes add value add saleability and contribute to a better place. Caring for your home says a lot about you.
You change your car, change or update your house, not just the kitchen and bathrooms spend some money on it, and this is money well spent.

If the Wheelie bin is at the front of the house, move it or conceal it. Make the right impression.