Under construction
Hart Barn is our most ambitious renovation project to date.
This quirky three storey bank barn in Hartsop was originally converted in the 1980’s into a three bedroom cottage and we are currently stripping it back to a barn before turning it into a fabulous contemporary retreat for two.
Anticipated completion date is October 2010
Hart Barn – the Art Barn
Cumbria has a wealth of talented artists and craftspeople and we want Hart Barn to be a “living gallery” to showcase the best of the region. Much of the interior and the fittings will be bespoke – we aim to inspire and delight!
What will you find?
- Master bedroom with a vaulted green oak roof and gallery over living room.
- Fabulous spiral staircase with railway sleeper treads.
- Romantic Philippe Starck style bathroom with freestanding bath and separate high-pressure shower.
- First floor living room with wood-burning stove and mountain views including glimpses of Brotherswater.
- Simple lines, hidden appliances, clever lighting and the warmth of underfloor heating will make the dining kitchen a real haven to walk into after a day on the fells.
- Separate utility and drying room.
- Over 750 square feet of living space.
- Private terraced garden to the rear plus use of our large fellside garden with its stunning panoramic views of Brotherswater and the mountains beyond.
What’s happening this week?
w/c 27th June
A busy week with the old barn roof removed – boy was it rotten, the slates were held on mostly by their weight and goodwill as the old nails had simply rusted away. The new green oak roof has been craned onto the building and looks fabulous….we just need to get a shimmy on before the next deluge!
w/c 17th May
Well the top floor has come out and gone back in again so it now can support the new spiral staircase and the balcony over the living room. The rear patio has been cleared of detrius (a lot of digging!) levelled and now concreted ready to be paved – it looks great and gets the sun until lunchtime at which point the top terrace turns into a veritable suntrap. The oak stair treads and stainless steel risers are also complete and they look fantastic…can’t wait to see them installed. More soon….Richard is working very hard.
w/c 26th April
The back-door has been dropped to be level with the back patio and the stonework looks great…you would never know it hadn’t been there for 150 years! There has been much behind the scenes activity with the stairs being delivered next week (in bits!) and hopefully the week after we will have all the green oak for the roof plus all the oak ballustrading for the stairs and balcony. I have been busy sorting out light fittings…seems a long way off until we need them, but hopefully once the roof is done we should get a shimmy on!
w/c 12th April
It has been a while since my last post and we have been busy. The ground floor structure is now complete and lovely and dry! The wall is in for the utility room at the back of the kitchen and the underfloor heating pipes installed under a new screed floor….samples of limestone flooring sit on my desk, but we are a couple of months away from the kitchen being fitted. The roof is next! Will add some pictures soon.
w/c 15th March
The garden wall is complete and looks very fine ….I am about to start pressure washing the rockface in the back garden….so on with the wellies! Work inside continues to focus on drains and water removal, but we are winning and the new kitchen sink can now sit under the window.
w/c 8th March
We are continuing work on the ground floor of the barn and this weekend removed all the blockwork walls ready to start the new tanking system for the walls that are below ground level…that’s the thing about a bank barn, part of it is built into a bank (unfortunately not one with a store of gold bullion!) Work on garden walls to the rear is underway and we hope to have the oil tank in place by the end of the week…..we would have loved a geothermal system but for a property of this size, just couldn’t stretch to it, so oil is the only option. This will be supplemented by a wood-burning stove though to reduce the environmental impact. That’s about it for this week……..