BARN-STYLE NEW BUILD
Antony and Jenni Bulley weren’t even considering building their own home, but an idyllic building plot with plenty of potential proved impossible to resist
NAMES Antony and Jenni Bulley
OCCUPATIONS Retired
LOCATION Wiltshire
PROJECT Contemporary replacement build
PLOT COST £340,000 in 2018
BUILD COST £260/ft²
WORK BEGAN March 2020
BUILD COMPLETED April 2021
Until they stumbled across a plot with plenty of potential, Antony and Jenni Bulley hadn’t even considered taking on a build project.“We didn’t have a plan and we were even thinking of downsizing, but then this plot became available via auction,” says Antony, who along with wife Jenni, had never self-built before. “I’ve seen the opportunities, but I’ve also seen the pitfalls,” he says. But the couple felt it was their “last chance to do such a large project”.
CONFRONTING THE RISK
The project itself was a risk from the beginning. The site they found included a pair of derelict workers’ cottages on four acres of rural Wiltshire, which they bought through an auction. Like the buildings, the land had also become derelict. “There were mounds of earth, rubbish and brambles,” says Jenni. “We couldn’t see the paddock and we didn’t know what we would uncover.”
Their first step was to get the lapsed planning permission reinstated, although that design didn’t include their preferred layout. “We wanted the house to look like an old barn that had been converted —a group of agricultural buildings joined together,” says Jenni. Consequently, they turned to local architect Rob Elkins —someone they have known personally and professionally for several years. “Rob creates interesting, contemporary designs with real quality and longevity,” says Antony.
FINALISING THE DESIGN
An initial pre-planning application revealed the couple’s desired footprint was too large. But by working with the local planning office, their plans later passed for an attractive twostorey replacement home, with additional bedrooms in the attic space for when the grandchildren visit. On the ground floor, a large and comfortable open-plan kitchen, dining and living room offers enticing country views in three directions.
A large masonry gable and spine wall anchor the home, with the remainder constructed around a steel frame. The design reflects the appearance of neighbouring barns, emphasised by scorched timber cladding and black metal roofing.
The materials used in the construction don’t j
