Childhood friends returned to the county they grew up in to turn a derelict stable into a rural home
WORDS ALICE WESTGATE PHOTOGRAPHY MARK BOLTON
Schoolfriends Joe Turnbull and Lawrence Sly often played together in a rundown stable block opposite Joe’s family home near Veryan on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall. Many years later Joe and his fiancé Emily Sonnet would turn the building into their home, and Lawrence would be the architect they chose to design it.
‘The stable was a big part of my childhood,’ says Joe. ‘Lawrence and I brought in a ping-pong table and spraypainted the walls. I always felt that someone should convert it into a house, but I didn’t think it would be me.’
By 2020 both Joe and Lawrence were living in London. Joe, 32, an artist and carpenter, owned a house in north London with Emily, 42, a creative producer in the music industry. When their son Wesley was born during the pandemic, they couple decided to move to Cornwall, renting a property in nearby St Agnes while they assessed their options. ‘Joe always wanted to build his own home, so I suggested we try to convert the stable,’ Emily explains. ‘It’s on a gorgeous 1-acre plot and has so much character that I knew it would make a really great family home.’
Lawrence was working for an architectural firm in London, while also planning a return to Cornwall with his wife Bernice, who was pregnant with their daughter Xanthe. When Joe and Emily invited him to design their project, which would launch his solo practice based in the southwest, Lawrence jumped at the chance. ‘I felt a personal connection to the stable as I knew the site and the building so well,’ he says. ‘I also felt a responsibility to do it justice.’ Joe, Lawrence and Emily were keen to respect the heritage of the stone building, which is unlisted and dates back to 1881. ‘The countryside is so beautiful that the house had to be subtle and modest,’ says Emily.
The stable became an open-plan living space with a kitchen and dining area, while the bathroom and a utility room are in a small side and rear extension that replaces a rickety tool shed tacked on during the 1980s. A new two-storey barn, reached from the stable via one of its doorways, includes three bedrooms and a studio.
Gaining planning consent for the new-build proved tricky. ‘The stable is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and close to the boundary of the local conservation area,’ says Lawrence. ‘It’s also outside the village settlement boundary, so we had
