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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 nearly 5 years into what was a 5 year project. Andy, being Andy, is doing all the work himself assisted by one of our neighbours Garry who is a complete star. Our son
Andrew was also a great help but he is off travelling now and is currently in Japan teaching English in a school there. Andy’s oldest friend ‘Bokker’ has been helping when he can but we’re looking forward to the kitchen
arriving in August.
The house should....will be ready for us to move into by the summer of 2010, if not before, at which point the
farmhouse will be available for holiday lets. 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 continue to make good progress and the kitchen area is nearly ready for the units to be fitted; we have painted it and all the sockets and lights are in and working. The
underfloor heating and the top screed has been
completed so all we need to do now is lay the slate floor.
Andy continues to put in the services, with lots of cables and pipes running everywhere. Have a look at 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! The plant room and
garage has been completed up to the first floor so Andy now has to build the wooden second floor which will be a granny flat.
One of the two patios has the slate down which makes a real difference and the second one should go down later this summer. The slate is so heavy though that it takes two people to lay it and even they can’t lift one slab. The copper guttering is up which looked nice and shiny at first but has turned darker and apparently will go a green colour.
Have a look at the recent photos!
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