Bringing a 17th century
farmhouse to modern
standards of energy
efficiency and comfort
Houlston Manor is an unlisted mainly
17th century box framed farmhouse,
which has been substantially added
to and altered since it was first built.
Originally a single storey building, the
building has expanded over the years
to include a second storey, double
depth bays and a substantial chimney
stack. The house was also ‘gentrified’
according to the fashion of the early
19th century when the timber-framed
front wall was replaced with brick to
create a unified exterior.
Owned by the same family for
generations, the current owner was born
in the house in the mid 1950s and has
lived there ever since. His long family
connection with Houlston reaches back
to his paternal grandmother, whose
uncle was a tenant of the Manor in the
mid 19th century – they even have a
very early photograph of him sitting in
front of the house!
The Requirement
While the basic structure of the house
was in good condition, including the
roofs (which had been stripped and reslated in the recent past), the windows
were in a worsening state of disrepair.
In addition, the southern gable end had
been letting in wind driven rain through
failed pointing and, despite having
central heating (installed in the 1990s)
and insulating the attic spaces, the
house was not a warm one.
The owner’s aims were threefold:
to replace the rotten and draughty
windows with new; to insulate the
walls, and, finally; to improve the
aesthetic appearance of the house
by reintroducing the 19th Century
symmetry. Lime Green's Warmshell
insulation system is able to bring an
old building constructed of traditional
materials up to modern energy
efficiency standards, and to do so
sustainably.
The solution
After choosing timber casement
windows to replace the rotten sashes,
a number of wall insulation solutions
were considered. The owner decided
that external insulation would help
resolve the aesthetics issue and deal
with both the threat of failing pointing
and general poor weather-proofing
of the building. Houlston Manor is of
solid-walled construction and without
a damp-proof course - the risk of
moisture condensation within the walls
was considered to be of paramount
importance.
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