Conservatories
CASE STUDY
Client : Fiona Smedley Style : Grade II listed barn renovation Location : Derby , UK Build time : 2 years
The Grade II listed barns and farmhouse at Elms Farm , Derbyshire , are packed full of history . Originally built in 1775 , the barns are the former home of the Little Eaton Brewery Company , owned by Officers , and were used as a malthouse and granary before later becoming a working farm .
Now , what was once the granary stands the home of Fiona Smedley and her husband John , who transformed the barn into the unique and rustic property it is today , all while ensuring the essence of its history remained .
Fiona ’ s father had bought the barns and farmhouse in the 1980s and ran the site as a farm until he retired in 2017 . It was then that he passed on the former malthouse and granary to Fiona and her brother , who took on the buildings with the aim of turning them into homes two years on .
Fiona and John worked with local architect , Paul Gaughan Building Consultants to draw up the plans for the granary , which was being used as a barn at the time . After a few tests to analyse the conditions of the groundworks , all legal checks and necessary approvals were granted without any major changes to the initial architectural drawings .
When builder Ken Tansley from Interbuild Ltd was first introduced to the site back in May 2017 , the barn was still full of old farming machinery , cow partitioning , and even had ducks and chickens living in a part of it .
“ It was a typical old barn when we first started . We needed to rip a lot out of the building , dig out the floors , do some repointing , and the roof needed to be redone . With it being a listed building , all this preparation and rebuilding work had to be done very carefully and by the book .
44 DECEMBER 2021 CLEARVIEW-UK . COM