The Coach House, is an idyllic country house set within the historic grounds of a large C16 country estate. The building sits within a remote landscape of east Hertfordshire, gently nestling within mature trees alongside the local river.

Formally a worker’s cottage and attached coach house, the building was purchased by the current owners in 1996 and converted into family home. The characterful house featured low eaves heights throughout, small cottage windows and little interaction with the surrounding landscape. Owing to the prior conversion of the house and the consolidation of the adjacent cottage, the dwelling had two staircases providing access to two independent first floor spaces.

Cowper Griffith were approached in 2018 to reorder the building and create some more space for the evolving familys lifestyle. The key was to introduce some contrasting spaces that countered the existing small cottage proportions. A large open plan living/dining area leads directly off the kitchen, which is now relocated to the centre of the house meaning all areas of the living space now have a direct relationship with the garden and views out across the landscape.

Upstairs the layout has been reordered, removing the separating wall and creating a larger more accessible bedroom floor. The new extension provides an appropriately sized master suite which references the historic house in a stripped back modern manner. A new internal Ensuite is lit by an oversized rooflight which sits directly over the shower concealed from the outside by the many staggered roof pitches.

Externally the Extensions have been carefully considered to complement the existing house, referencing key architectural details and materials. Base materials of red bricks and clay tiles, tie the extensions back to the existing house while a new large oak-screen gives the building a ‘front’ which addresses the site entrance and improves the general sense of arrival.

Project Value: Undisclosed

Contractor: Bridgeman Construction

Photographs: Matthew Smith