Architecture Wednesday: The Old Barn

Once a farm building, The Old Barn is now a remarkable six-bedroom home that sits in an elevated plot with commanding views over the quiet village of Chelsworth, Suffolk. The design embraces its pastoral setting while establishing a contemporary style. Exposed materials are celebrated throughout, with an impressive triple-height timber structure, original brickwork, and plywood elements.

To preserve the architectural integrity of the building, the main barn was kept as a single volume, its original oak frame restored and integrated with new sections of French oak. Sheets of weatherboard plywood clad the interior, and the roof has been rebuilt with lightweight steel truss supports.

The main entry is to an impressive ante-room, where brick floor pavers and concrete walls set an authentic appeal set against a bank of yellow door fronts that open to reveal handy storage, utility facilities, and a small powder room.

A pair of symmetrically positioned stairs sweep up to the open-plan reception area in the main section where you find those dramatic full-height ceilings. Expansive windows reach upward from the former barn door to extend across portions of the roof flooding the room with light. Limestone floors with underfloor heating ground the space which is arranged centrally around a large dining area with a bespoke kitchen beyond.

Professional stainless-steel units are configured as a U-shaped island, with easy-to-maintain surfaces, raised plug sockets and seating space at the opposite end that is oriented toward low-level slit windows that frame panoramic views of the landscape. At the opposite end of the great space is the double-height living area with exposed original beams and slit windows to frame the views. The great room opens onto a generous terrace with an outdoor dining area and a barbecue.

A white-painted wall marks the boundary between the main section and the four-story extension that houses all six bedrooms. The principal suite is discreetly positioned on the lower ground floor with direct access to the garden. East-facing panels draw in the soft morning light. A set of curtains opens to an en suite with a round spa bathtub, built-in wardrobes, and a door to a separate water closet. 

One of the bedrooms on the ground floor also has an en suite bathroom, along with access to a small balcony. There are three more bedrooms on the first floor, and another en suite bedroom on the second floor. A pristine additional bathroom on the first floor has a bathtub, ideal for long soaks.

The house is immersed in well-maintained private grounds of around an acre, mainly laid to lawn and interspersed with established trees and planted sections. To the front, the private driveway has space for parking multiple cars.

The Old Barn can be yours for just £1.550M or $2.075M USD.

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The Modern House

Architecture Wednesday: School Barn Farm

Hidden in a peaceful pocket of Warwickshire, School Farm Barn is an elegant and contemporary home with five bedrooms and an expansive open-plan living space. Its striking profile rises amid a half-acre garden with vegetable beds, pastoral views and a wonderful natural swimming pool.

Once used to store grains, School Farm Barn was converted in 2021 but still using hardworking and hardwearing materials with photovoltaic panels, efficient battery storage capacity, two air-source heat pumps, and underfloor heating added during its construction.

A quiet countryside road winds up to the house with the home's silhouette peering over mature hedges. Behind electric-gates is a large driveway with plenty of space to park cars, including a garage with an EV charging point and a two-car carport.

From the front the home’s roofline extends upward to form an elegant pitch and directly below is the large front door, slightly set back and framed by glazed panels. Entry is to the social core of the house, an airy, versatile open-plan living space with up to twenty-nine-foot-high ceilings. To the left is the dining area and a beautiful bespoke kitchen with discreetly integrated appliances. Part of the countertop doubles as an informal breakfast bar, and beyond are floor-to-ceiling sliding doors to the south-facing terrace. Adjacent to the kitchen is a large pantry, with additional fridge/freezer capacity, a wine fridge, additional units and plenty of shelf space for dried goods. Grounded with oak floors the other half of the space features a living space with a large contemporary Stovax log burner and large windows of varying shapes and sizes that allow plenty of light. 

The rest of the ground floor has been wonderfully apportioned. There is a boot room, separated from the corridor by a glass door, with garden access, ceiling-high cupboards, and an apple-green paneled wall; a large utility room, a half bath, and a large, serene bedroom with en suite shower room. The principal suite also begins on the ground floor. Here, a dressing room with an entire wall of built-in wardrobes and a sublime en suite bathroom with a freestanding bathtub and shower; from the dressing room stairs rise up to the private sleeping loft which overlooks the dressing room below.

At the front of the house, stairs ascend from the living room to the first floor where a long hallway ends in a cozy space built into the window frame. This floor also includes a private office and the three remaining bedrooms; one of the bedrooms has a walk-in wardrobe and a bathroom, while the other two have en suite shower rooms.

The half-acre garden that surrounds School Farm Barn is an immersive space, one that is a core part of the home’s overall experience. A large terraced area abuts the house, providing space for outdoor dining and seating, and a view of the natural swimming pool, a clean-water swimming area added under current ownership, surrounded by water lilies and carefully selected water plants.

Despite its blissfully rural setting, the house is a short distance from central Birmingham and Birmingham International airport and station; the latter runs rail services to London in as little as 65 minutes.

And it can all be yours for £2,150,000 or 2,865,000 USD.

As always click to emBIGGERate …

The Modern House