The renovation of 150 year old farm buildings near Woodstock

Amanda and Mark’s derelict tithe barn and farm buildings may have had collapsed roofs and trees growing inside when they bought in 2021, but four years later their Oxfordshire home is a picture-perfect dream

The day their new JCB arrived was also the day the family had an important phone call.

‘It was English Heritage to say our home had just been listed,’ says Amanda. ‘Grade 2! it meant all our work was put on hold for six months.’

It also meant getting listed buildings consent both for their plans and for the materials to be used.

The couple would have liked to have had a ground source heat pump, but as their home covers some 12,000sq ft, ‘it would have meant digging up half of Oxfordshire,’ says Amanda, and the new listing meant no solar panels. The newly planted orchard covers some two-thirds of an acre Amanda and her husband Mark had been looking for a property nearer to their children’s schools in Oxford. ‘We also wanted land for our horses,’ she says, so they engaged Annabel Elliott of Country Property Search to help them.

What they actually bought was a derelict tithe barn and some equally derelict farm buildings near Woodstock in 2021 – ‘all at least 150 years old with walls and roofs falling in and trees growing up inside!’ says Amanda. ‘They didn’t come with any land either, but we managed to buy a 20-acre field from the seller.’

As soon as she walked into the main barn, Amanda found herself planning the layout. ‘I could see my kitchen would go there and the sitting area there,’ she says. ‘I just wanted it straightaway.’

The front door had to be recessed to give the required head height at the door. The original stone lintel was in the way, and the couple wanted to retain itThe buildings formed a u-shape; on the left of the main barn was a cart shed with granary above and stables. To the right of the main barn was a milking parlour, still with cow stalls in place.

In the centre of the farmyard was a 1960s cattle barn – ‘but we quickly demolished that,’ says Amanda.

‘A lot of people thought we were nuts,’ she continues. For, although there was electricity, there was no mains gas nor mains water nor a sewage system.

‘So, now we use gas tanks and had a bore hole dug – we hit an artesian aquifer and it gushed out like oil!’ she says. ‘Then, as it was salty, we had to install a reverse osmosis filtration system to make it drinkable. As for the sewage system, we put in a Klargester bio disc.’

HollandGreen Architects worked together with Hush Kitchens of Cirencester early on to create a stunning barn-style kitchen. The island is central, providing an informal seating space, with an additional prep sink for washing fruit and vegetables. The couple employed architectural technologist Simon Griffiths of HollandGreen Architects, a multidisciplinary design practice. The couple explained they wanted to keep as many of the original features as possible.

‘My initial impression of the property was its sheer size, scale, and condition,’ says Simon. ‘A great deal of work was needed to make it habitable. But its raw beauty was evident, and it had the potential to become a series of stunning spaces.’

He adds, ‘Substantial repairs were needed to ensure it was safe and watertight. Its listed status also meant restrictions on the design and the budget played a key role, given the property’s 1,000 sq m floor area.’

The couple wanted to keep as many of the original features as possible ‘Luckily the walls were so thick we could avoid insulating them because if we had it would have ruined the look of them,’ says Amanda. ‘However, we did insulate the new slate roofs.’

Simon ensured maximum light could flood into the triple-height tithe barn by designing windows to sit behind the original ventilation slits; he also glazed the openings where the sliding barn doors had been. They kept the original barn doors as a decorative feature.

Farmers in the past had demolished a building in the far left corner as a short cut for their tractors, so Simon suggested building something distinctly modern in its place, using zinc-clad timber-framing. ‘The new section had to follow the original roof ridge line, so I suggested including a master en suite bedroom and mezzanine, as there were stunning views across the fields,’ he says.

The chandelier in the entrance hall is by David Hunt Lighting ‘We wanted to show the history of the place,’ adds Amanda.

Most of the new flooring is in polished concrete in three different shades depending on how the natural light falls. But they have laid porcelain tiles in what used to be the cart shed – now their teenagers’ sitting and games room – and the upstairs rooms have oak floorboards.

All the internal doors are oak, which Amanda found at Burgess Reclamation, and during one visit she spotted a delivery of old elm boards. ‘They came from an old monastery, but they were perfect for all my window sills.’ Amanda personally oiled all the doors, oak staircases and beams.

Inside the original tithe barn, now with polished concrete flooring. New glazing was set within the original large openings, with original beams exposed and sliding shutters retained. The windows themselves in black aluminium frames had to be in a heritage style to satisfy the listing officer and all had to be made to fit the existing openings, none of which were standard size.

Then Amanda went to Hush Kitchens of Cirencester for her new kitchen and boot room units. ‘The kitchen design was very tricky as we had to accommodate two doorways and four windows.’ she says. ‘But the team were fantastic and rose to the challenge.’

Now there are shaker-style units in rich green ‘Goblin’ from Little Greene, chosen for their rustic aesthetic.

The range cooker and main sink are in line, the worktop lengths are identical, and the larders sit perfectly opposite each other, as designed by Hush Kitchens of Cirencester As for the land which had been arable for centuries, Amanda worked to turn it back to meadow grass with a large pond. She also planted 300 native trees including a heritage fruit tree orchard with rare local species such as Blenheim orange and Eynsham Dumpling, as well as a kilometre of native hedging as well as wildflower meadows.

‘Then the wildlife came flooding back!’ she says. ‘It had been almost empty before but now we have owls, sparrow hawks, kestrels, stoats, hares, foxes and field mice.

‘On the pond, which we only dug a year ago, we have a heron, ducks and a swan… and the soil is alive with earthworms. We now have butterflies galore and our own beehives producing honey.’

Loki, their rescue dog, thought to be a cockerpoo, admiring the new zinc-clad timber-framed building to the left of the tithe barn. This holds the master suite with mezzanine seating area and bathroom with a freestanding bath. There are views all the wayAmanda also planted willow and alder as flood defences (‘They suck up the water’) and makes jam from the orchard.

She finishes, ‘It’s taken three years to bring the place up to where it is now and there is still more to do.

‘Instead of letting these beautiful buildings collapse, we have given them a new lease of life. I love seeing the original carpenter’s markings on the beams, tracing the indents on the cart shed columns from wagon wheels, and knowing that the old granary door with its 19th-century cat hole is now used by our cats. But at the end of the day, it’s our family home and we are privileged to be a part of its next chapter.’

Harry (one of Amanda’s two cats) waiting for supper beneath the row of hanging lights. These are from eBay‘Luckily the walls were so thick we could avoid insulating them because if we had it would have ruined the look of them’ A curved wall was added to the master suite to soften the straight lines. The four-poster bed is from Heals, and the built-in wardrobes were made using oak doors from Burgess Reclamation, with ironmongery from the Suffolk Latch Company. The boot room units were also designed and fitted by Hush Kitchens. The original trusses were sanded back and left exposed throughout the former cow shed. Address book

Annabel Elliott, Country Property Search, 07734 778747, countrypropertysearch.com

Burgess reclamation, 01869 346347, burgessreclamation.co.uk

Direct Stone (polished concrete floors), 01525 863920, directstone.co.uk

HollandGreen, 01844 390381, hollandgreen.co.uk

Hush Kitchens, 01285 706 543, hushkitchens.com