INSPIRING
Built into a steep slope and with spectacular views of the Dorset countryside, this contemporary home celebrates the integrity of the raw materials it’s made from, teaming them with beautiful textiles and natural elements to create an industrial look with heart
HOME PROFILE
WHO LIVES HERE Majeda Clarke, a weaver and textile artist, her husband Gary, and their three children Zahir, Israar and Amara
THE PROPERTY A three-bedroom new-build in Charmouth, Dorset, built on a narrow plot on a steep hillside, in the footprint of a derelict worker’s cottage
Tucked into a Dorset hillside, the little single-storey stone worker’s cottage captured Majeda and Gary Clarke’s hearts from the moment they first saw it. Sitting just below the road and virtually hidden by trees, it had sweeping views down the valley to the sea and was, they felt, a rare and special plot – while the traditional long house, for sale with planning permission, was crying out to be renovated and enjoyed once more.
So they snapped it up with the idea of gutting and reworking the interior, but keeping the building as a simple cottage. However, after several years of dealing with the challenges and costs of foundations that were sinking into the sandy ground of the steep hillside, they were forced to have a radical rethink. ‘We had to have the foundations secured,’ says Majeda, ‘and it was going to cost us so much, our original plan to just change the interior didn’t make sense, so we decided instead to go all out and build a three-bedroom, architect-designed house.’
Keeping the original stone walls on the road side (from where the property still appears to be a cottage), Majeda and Gary have created a modern, well-insulated, light-filled home. Banks of south-facing sliding glass doors, which lead to a wide, decked balcony, bring the
