Renee
12 weeks to demolish and restore a beautiful 100 year old limestone cottage with a new first floor – challenge accepted!
Our Clients wanted a 1st floor addition that appeared to wrap around the beautiful old stone cottage to give them 3 bedrooms upstairs, a living extension to the rear and a swimming pool. As the new owners needed to move in ASAP, we were given a timeline of only 3 months, but we didn’t let that faze us!
Due to years of suffering rising damp, we had to strip it all bare and create perfect new foundations whilst supporting the old walls. Extra room and construction for a dining area, utility room and the swimming pool were undertaken within the first 2 weeks.
We engaged tuck and point specialists to seamlessly integrate the original with the reconstructed areas and reused old stones to make a ‘new’ front fence.
After a few weeks spent on salvaging the original structure whilst maintaining the Clients’ desire to build a ‘wrapped’ structure around the old form, the idea for the wall angles were finalized on a late night hand sketch which the Clients loved and so the design was immediately put into action. We followed through with angled walls everywhere.
At SeaBreeze we build our own swimming pools, so there is no down time in co-coordinating the various trades a complete build would usually require.
After much debate the owners decided to stick with white and black for the new addition which was then followed throughout the finishes in the house.
Finished Cottage Renovation
Here are the finished shots of this cottage restoration with its very modern extension:
Mixing modern with antique is very eclectic and is not for everyone, however, the house has already attracted great response from all over town including Domain, whose story on this cottage will be posted soon – the video footage has come up superb!
The day the new owners moved in was also the very same day the original elderly owner passed away. As both past and present owners had kept a close relationship throughout, it was decided that the original house number plaque situated next to the door would be reinstated. The original cedar and glass front door with the palm tree frosting now sits aside the very kitsch Mexican under the palm tree plaque with house number. Finally at rest, the prior owners’ home has been passed on to loving owners. Very touching.
Let us know what you think about this eclectic project in our comment section below!