We applied for Planning Permission from Caerphilly
Borough Council in 2002 and following a lengthy and
frustrating process, we finally got the permission to
convert our old stone barn into a house. We found an excellent Architect from Bridgend, Alun Arthur, and we are now 4 years into a 5 year project. Andy, being Andy, is doing all the work himself assisted by one of our neighbours Gary who is a complete star, and our son
Andrew is also currently doing a sterling job!

The house should....will be ready for us to move into by the summer of 2009, if not before, at which point the farmhouse will be available for holiday letting. The barn started off as an L shaped shell, with a tin roof in parts, no roof in others; walls needing repair and underpinning. It had previously been used partly as a cow shed and partly as a hay loft.

We have made good progress over the past year and the barn is almost weatherproof, as the windows are now in. The huge opening on the front has finally gone in which is a real milestone. We have also completed the stud walls on the inside and the insulation and plaster boarding has progressed to both of the bedroom wings, ground and 1st floor. We are currently waiting for the plasterer to start, which is taking longer than we had hoped! The floors in the main living space are all built and it looks amazing. We are still changing our minds on some of the design issues - Grand Designs is a good source of ideas!

Andy is well underway with putting in the services, with lots of cables and pipes running everywhere. I need to take a photo of the Control Centre in the utility room because I’ve never seen anything like it in anyone else’s house. A Nuclear Power Station maybe....but not a house!

All the pointing is now finished so Garry will be moving on to the patio areas, and also the garage where we need to lay foundations and start building it. Andrew (my son) will be leaving to go abroad soon and we are going to miss him, in more ways than one. We have chosen the flooring for the ground floor (tiles from Mandarin Stone) and the bathrooms upstairs but we have to save up for that!!

Have a look at some recent photos!