ABOVE RIGHT
Rob wanted to leave the atrium as open as possible to allow views right up to the ridge when entering the property
BELOW RIGHT
A ‘sunken’ hot tub area was included by excavating part of the hillside and shoring it with a dry stone wall
HIGH POINT
“Switching on the Christmas tree lights and seeing how homely the whole place looked inside and out.” – Rob Lea
THE RIGHT LOOK
When designing the home, Rob wanted to create the perfect balance between making it “look like it had always been here – as modest as possible from the road, but a bit more imaginative on the unseen elevations.” The old barn was single storey with an open
front; Rob’s new house is two storeys, but he kept the height as low as possible so it didn’t impose on its surroundings too much. The front is glazed to replicate the barn’s original open frontage, but has three openings instead of the former two. He’s proud of the final product, and the fact that “it never really changed from what I drew on day one.”
The gable end, which isn’t visible from the road, is fully glazed top to bottom. Rob installed bi-fold doors here which lead off from the kitchen/dining area, while the master bedroom above has a Juliet balcony. He wanted the house to be “light, bright and simple,” with the exception of the two bathrooms which he describes as “unexpectedly dark and opulent – I like them being so different to the rest of the house.” Designing the 200 m2
house himself meant
Rob could focus on the finer details. He knew he wanted to include a sunken hot tub area, which he achieved by excavating a part of the hillside and building in a dry stone wall. Another priority was making sure the Christmas tree would have a good spot! “It sits under the open staircase and is visible from everywhere,” he explains. The house has an open entrance atrium, with
the rest of the downstairs space leading off it. “The spaces are nicely proportioned, without feeling too open,” Rob explains, adding “I wanted defined spaces.” He plans to install two large sliding doors so the lounge, with its log
february/march 2020
burner, can be closed off during the colder winter months. The master bedroom is accessed via a glass bridge, another of Rob’s more specific design inclusions. “Firstly, I wanted a talking point, which it certainly is!” He also wanted to leave the atrium as open as possible to allow views right up to the ridge when entering the property. Internally, Rob wanted a “rustic and industrial look but without being twee,” he says, adding: “I wanted to give the internals the feel of an old barn.” Achieving this included cladding two walls with stone, using neutral paint colours such as white and a golden sandstone, and cutting flagstones to use as windowsills. He also installed bespoke kitchen units, and a bespoke steel staircase with chunky oak treads, made by a local steel fabricator. The fireplace features a cast insitu concrete surround which the installer built for him.
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