BUCKINGHAMSHIRE HOUSE
A professional designer and her art-loving husband have restored a centuries-old farmworkers’ cottage and adjoining barn into a place of beauty at one with its natural setting
Linda Morey-Burrows and husband Patrick were happy living in London after several years splitting their time between Bath and the capital while raising a family.
‘We had lived and worked in London for almost 20 years when we decided to relocate to Bath for our children,’ Linda explains.
‘We bought an office in central Bath and stayed in London two nights a week to work at the MoreySmith studio.’
After nine years, with the children having left home, a permanent return to the city beckoned. Then lockdown struck.
‘We had just finished renovating our London home, and with only a small terrace, like many others in the city, we felt trapped.
We love to walk and cycle and we knew we really needed more time in nature and the countryside.’
The pair searched online and found a property nestled in the pretty Buckinghamshire countryside, not a million miles from their work in London, but offering the rural life they craved.
‘When visiting, we saw a goldfinch in the garden and I knew that was a sign that the place would be ours,’ laughs Linda.
‘There was plenty of potential with the property, which required significant renovations. And we fell in love with the area, including the surrounding woods and rivers, the garden and wildlife.’
Rather misleadingly referred to as The Cottage, the house is a magnificent, yet sympathetic, restoration that includes a showstopping kitchen – this benefits from a voluminous roof space, thanks to the clever amalgamation of the existing house with the connecting barn.
The barn once housed livestock, before being used as a coal store, and was totally open to the elements, a far cry from its current state.
‘Originally, we’d planned only to refurbish the barn and link it to the cottage but the project grew,’ Linda says. ‘At my design practice, we are used to working with heritage spaces, mixing the new elements with the character of the old features.’
What might have seemed insurmountable to a renovation novice, was a welcome opportunity for Linda and her team to do what comes naturally, even when working with the inevitable restrictions caused by the pandemic.
‘The whole project completed within six months, which was an enormous undertaking as we were navigating Covid restrictions,’ she explains.
‘Everyone was affected by the pandemic, but the building industry especially.’
The end result speaks for
