CONVERSION
Looking for somewhere in the country with the potential to generate an extra income, Luke and Laura Thomas decided to head for Dorset to convert an old flax shop-cum-garage in the grounds of their new home
HOMEOWNERS Luke and Laura Thomas
LOCATION Dorset
PROJECT Conversion of a Grade II-listed shop/garage
SIZE 85m²
BUILD ROUTE Contractors and DIY
BUILD TIME Two years (Sept 2018 -Oct 2020)
HOUSE COST £555,000 (including main house)
BUILD COST £120,000
VALUE £850,000 (including main house)
Luke, what made you both take on such an interesting project?
My wife Laura and I were living in London five years ago and knew we wanted to start a family and move somewhere a bit greener, where we could generate another income. We thought Dorset would be a nice area to do that so we looked around the Bridport area and found this place. It came with a stone-built annex/garage at the back and it had so much potential.
Originally it was an old flax shop and was being used mainly as a garage. It was very dusty and grubby with big double wooden doors at the front and an old stable floor. As you walked through the main area there was an old worktop with a workbench and old tools. The final room on the ground floor was essentially a log store and upstairs was just a loft with sets of ladders and all sorts of stuff.
What was the first step towards the conversion?
Laura did some Google searches and we found various architects and eventually chose Lydia and Lawrence from Design Storey. They really understood that we wanted to hold onto as much of the character of this place as we could and accentuate the features rather than try to make it something it’s not.
From finding Design Storey and getting the drawings together it took two years before we got planning permission. Because the building is listed, there were certain designs we wanted to get through but the conservation officer wasn’t keen. Originally the idea was to have a big panoramic window in the main living area to look out at the amazing view, but the conservation officer was not in favour of this, so we changed the design to be two slim but tall windows instead. We were really pleased with that in the end because you get little snapshots of the view through the space. It actually also makes two small extra seats. Lydia and Lawrence were brilliant at adjusting the drawings and resubmitting and eventually we got to a good place with it.
What was the build process like?
At the beginning of the project we had the builders in and they did the steelwork for us and put the stud walls up on the first floor, took the old cedar shingles off, refelted and relaid it with reclaimed slates. After that, we did most of
