Restoring a characterful cottage in a tree-encircled setting in Bristol has given Katy and Fergus Cronk a slice of rural harmony just minutes from city centre life
FEATURE KERRYN HARPER-CUSS PHOTOGRAPHY BOZ GAGOVSKI
Nestled in a secluded location down a winding road, this sweet property is a wonderful contradiction. With its curved bay windows, diminutive rooflights and rose-clad exterior it is the epitome of an English country cottage. The back garden merges almost seamlessly into woodland that slopes to a brook which flows into the River Trym, yet in truth, the house is situated not in a rural hamlet but in a suburb of the bustling city of Bristol.
Home to Fergus and Katy Cronk, a vet and an interior designer respectively, it is a rare find. Despite being only a 10-minute drive from cosmopolitan Clifton, it sits on the edge of 650 acres of parkland that form the Blaise Castle estate. A charming vestige of a bygone age it was formerly two gardeners’ cottages but is now a four-bedroom house which Fergus and Katy have sensitively brought into the modern age.
When the couple bought the cottage in May 2020, it had long been converted into a singular house from a pair of one-up-one-down cottages. The previous occupants had used it for more than 45 years as a much-loved family home but the roof was leaking, there was no central heating, the wiring needed a complete overhaul and even the underground
pipework that connected the house to the local water supply needed digging out to be replaced with larger-gauge pipes. Yet the country-in-the-city atmosphere had captured their hearts and they were excited rather than daunted by the opportunity it presented to enjoy the lifestyle they wanted to lead.
“Having completed a renovation project at our last house together, Fergus and I were ready for a new, exciting challenge,” Katy explains. “The cottage is steeped in history and character and offered the perfect opportunity to blend a traditional aesthetic with our desire for a modern family home.”
Fergus – as an animal lover – was quick to add chickens in the garden alongside two beehives and a vegetable patch. Katy’s work as a professional interior designer meant she had ample project management experience and a bulging contacts book to confidently rework the design and layout. She reveals, “When we bought the house it was a series of dark little rooms connected by corridors. I immediately knew that revising the layout, adding the utility room, changing door positions and sensitively removing some walls, we could make the best use of available floorspace making the house lighter
