Year: 2007

  • Rock & Roll

    Today’s job was clearing our fine collection of rocks to one side of the yard. I’d always coveted the small sea of rough rocks and dressed stones that covered the concrete yard to one side of the barn. When they were left in place when we completed the purchase I felt I’d somehow got better…

  • Rainwater Harvesting

    Rainwater harvesting is one of those simple concepts that reminds us of old-fashioned sensibilities. Basically, it entails the collection of the rainwater that falls onto a roof, the storage of that water and its utilisation for domestic purposes. The water is collected by normal roof gutters then passed through a filter to remove dirt, leaves…

  • Brambling

    With a big shed to convert into habitable accommodation, you’d think we’d have plenty to do without gardening. Regardless, we’ve spent the last few weekends clearing brambles and establishing footpaths through the piece of scrub woodland that we bought along with the barn. Very satisfying when liberating trees from the brambles that have engulfed them…

  • Step 5 = project management

    Answer these: Question: So once you’ve started, who will bring it all together? Question: Can you handle the potential loss of control of the project of delegating some responsibilities? Question: Do you have the experience to bring together such a complex project? Question: Will the role be fulfilled by you or someone you pay (an…

  • The Great Outdoors

    That’s what’s great about the outdoors you know, it’s like one giant toilet. Jeff Goldblum, The Big Chill, 1983. …dedicated to Cheryl, she knows why.

  • VAT for barn convertors

    There is an update to this post at … VAT for barn convertors update December 2007 Having been confused by the VAT treatment around barn conversions for some time, I thought I’d better get the situation clear before going any further. This is a summary of the VAT situation currently: Conversion of a building to…

  • Going Green

    We never really had any great green aspirations when we started out on this project. Our design priorities were mainly aesthetic rather than practical. Our goal was to build a beautiful place to live. As the design has taken shape, it has grown to incorporate many features that are considered green or ecological. Highly specified…

  • Damn the architect

    Having weighed up the pros and cons over the past few months of employing an architect in a ‘full service’ capacity we’ve decided to go it alone. It’s not been an easy decision and is at least in part driven by the fact that I’ve not managed to find anyone who is able to offer…

  • Step 4 = design owner / design implementer

    (or … will you employ an architect?) We have some strong opinions about how we wanted the conversion to be. We’re keen on a natural finish, wanting to avoid the dark stained timber, olde worlde kitchens & stairs and gravel often to be found in and around a stereo-typical barn conversion. Our aim is to…

  • Here we go…

    Having claimed that the ball was rolling back on the 28th June 2006 only to spend six months to-ing & fro-ing, waiting for utility companies and solicitors to get their acts together, the ball really has started rolling. We completed the purchase of the barn on Friday the 26th January 2007 – now here we…