EXTENSION
Jane and Craig have bridged the centuries with an imaginative link between an ancient cottage and its outbuildings
HOMEOWNERS Jane Fordham and Craig Bonner
LOCATION Woking
HOUSE TYPE Extended 16th-century cottage
HOUSE SIZE353m2
PURCHASED 2012
BUILD ROUTE Architect designed, project managed by owners
CONSTRUCTION Reclaimed brick, timber
INITIAL COST £960,000
PROJECT COST £650,000
CURRENT VALUE £1.6million
Welcome to the house of fun — a home of secret slides, hidden doors, pop-up screens and wonky dimensions. Nothing is quite what it seems in Jane Fordham and Craig Bonner’s extraordinary home of two halves.
Their period house welcomes you with its low-slung front windows and blossoming climbers round the door. Head round the back, however, and you’ll spot a contemporary zig-zag glazed corridor that links the Grade II-listed building with its revamped and very contemporary stables and garage block.
“Our initial plan was to self-build,” says Craig, a financial director. “We had always dismissed the idea of buying a period house because we always thought they could be oppressive with their low ceilings and small windows, but we fell for this as soon as we saw it. It had a really positive feel to it.”
Not only was the property in the right location, but it also had planning permission to convert the stables and garage, offering scope to fulfil at least part of their self-build ambition.
“The only thing we needed to address was how to create a link between the two and how to modernise the outbuildings without faking it,” says Craig.
With no deadlines or time constraints, the couple moved into the old cottage with their young children and started to plan for a home which, above all else, would be fun to live in.
“We created a significant mood board that included space, light, fun and play,” says Craig. “Then we broke every rule in the self-builder’s book by just making it up as we went along. I was happy to adjust things ‘on the go’, while Jane is much better at planning and detail.”
“It was very much a case of doing a bit, saving a bit, doing a bit more, saving a bit more”
Before they could start work, they had to get planning permission for the glazed link, which took around 18 months and included lengthy discussions with English Heritage. “They were brilliant because they were keen to help us achieve what we wanted while making sure we didn’t deface the buildings,” says Craig. Jane and Craig w
