26/04/2019
Built as a farmhouse, High House was attached to a much older building, an 18th century dairy, which remained in use until the 1960s, when it was refashioned as a garage to house an increasing number of motor cars. In the 1980s new owners wanted more space for their growing family and the garage was remodelled into a lounge for children and dogs to relax in, and what country residence would be complete without a number of utility rooms? A pantry, a larder and a laundry, with the hayloft above for attic space and extra bedrooms.
Lisa and Fred, who arrived in 2015, were keen to recapture the essence of the barn it once was and set about revealing the ham stone pillars and old elm beams that lay beneath the late twentieth century modernity, at the same time adding windows and doors and a few 21st century comforts. Today the old pantry and cleaning cupboard form the kitchen of The Dairy, the laundry became a downstairs bedroom, whilst a staircase leads up to the old loft, now the master bedroom.
Although farmland and outbuildings were sold for redevelopment many years ago, and today the owners both have full-time jobs, a hint of rural lifestyle lingers; sheep still graze the field and hens enjoy the freedom of the garden. At dawn the cockerel might be just too far away to wake you.
