This is the largest project we have undertaken in one go, with the value of the work at over £2M. This project was completed very much together with the client who was onsite most of the time and heavily involved in design choices. It involved either redeveloping or significant work to six barns followed by a maintenance, repair and redecoration schedule to the large farmhouse. It also included major relandscaping of circa ten acres of land, reshaping ponds draining the land and building new bridges. Services installed include solar PV, a pellet boiler district heating system and multiple package wastewater treatment plants. This project also involved significant underground infrastructure and drainage across a challenging site.

Phase One – Caring for Wildlife

The first phase consisted of mitigation work. We needed to move the wine cellar and do extensive mitigation for bats, owls, birds and other wildlife. Once this was completed we could set up a site workshop, tea room and milled and put in stick 40 tonnes of timber, some of which was from the client’s own woodland and the rest was from woodland local to Joe’s home.

Phase Two – Winery Conversion

Next we converted the winery. The roof was caving in and the floor structure was giving way, so it was stripped backed to an earth floor, four walls and the salvageable roof timbers. An all new floor structure was constructed, including underfloor heating throughout. Roof trusses repaired and new doors and windows were made out of either oak or chestnut. Bespoke office furniture was made and a new kitchen was installed upstairs including wine display cabinets. The winery is now a wine cellar for the client’s business and an office. We also adapted a pole barn and installed a 100 kW pellet boiler to provide heat for the entire site with a 20 tonne hopper for the pellets.

Phase Three – Additional Barns

The next phase included the Linhay, link building, stables and Landrover barn roof. The Landrover barn was re-roofed with reclaimed Delabole slate, the stables had mass cob repair carried out to the wall tops and was re-slated using slate salvaged from the site (local South Hams slate) to produce a new peg slate roof. The Linhay had major structural issues on both gable ends and the entire front of the building needed to be removed in order to achieve the design. As such, only the rear wall and part of both gables remained; the rest was newly built, including a pair of two-storey masonry columns. The stone walls of the link building were reinstated and both spaces were fully rebuilt internally, including a custom stacked slate fireplace to mimic late husband’s previous fireplace in the farmhouse. A new elm staircase was constructed, inspired by some elm boards that the late husband used to make bellows. We sourced the elm, milled it and dried to our specification before turning it into a staircase. Chestnut from timber milled on site was used for flooring throughout the upstairs, all new double glazed windows and doors. Externally we provided a patio area, stone retaining walls, a staircase and a custom steel bar handrail and fencing to match late husband’s designs elsewhere on the farm.

Phase Four – Main Farmhouse

Maintenance, repair and redecoration schedule to the large farmhouse. We breathed a new lease of life into the property, upgrading the heating system, oiling old floorboards, installing new woodburners and redecorating. We also installed a custom made kitchen and pantry, new bathroom suites and finishes throughout.

Phase Five – Entertainment Space

The stable was built to have an industrial kitchen downstairs and an open plan entertainment space upstairs to complement the wine cellar business to host evening entertainment with food and drink. The yard outside was finished to house a marquee for larger events.

Fancy a Visit?

If you would like to have a look at our work, why not arrange a wine tasting at Michael Sutton’s Cellar. Follow this link to find out more.