Progress Photos

[DJH]

Nice job there FF. You must be delighted. Did you decide on a solution to the rainwater problem yet?

I was amazed, when we did the south aisle roof in the church, to see just how much [pick your word for bad workmanship] had gone into it. How do you fit a window from another (demolished) church that's too big for the space you want it to go into? You could see the stages the work went through, each fixing one problem and creating two new ones. If I'm bored one day, I'll write it up!

I look forward to that Keith...I've had some small experience of South Aisles in my time as well... :roll:

Doug

 

[Flyfisher]

Nice job there FF. You must be delighted. Did you decide on a solution to the rainwater problem yet?

Yes, quite a bit of progress last year, which is pleasing. Must be nearly 1/3rd of the way through now. :lol:

I managed to put a final decision about the downpipe/possible hopper on hold by fitting some temporary plastic downpipe, plus the flexible pipe visible in the photos to the existing surface water drain. The drain needs to be moved, which I'll do when landscaping the area in front of the house, which I won't do until the weather warms up, so I've got a few more months to delay any decision!

 

[masochists-r-us]

Flyfisher - Thank you so much for sharing your photos. What a beautiful building and what a great job you're doing breathing life back into it and making it a desirable and comfortable home once again. Our project is pretty major like yours and we're still at it 8 years after moving in, but it finally feels like it's slowly becoming the home we have dreamed of for so long. It's a labour of love and for sure you'll never make back the true cost of undertaking such a project so celebrate how much you've achieved and enjoy it to the max.

 

[Zebra]

OK, I'm going to be honest and I hope you don't mind. I find the plaster on the stairwell a teensy bit too flat and square, I think it just makes it look too modern. I love the fireplace, if I ignore the huge telly but there you are, if people will have these things :wink: .
I love the bit between the sitting room and the kitchen, and love the way the old jettied wall is indoors now, but I wouldn't have gone for such a modern kitchen myself.
And I was going to say I'm intrigued as to why a surfboard at the Christmas dinner table, but then I looked around here at the camping gear in the study, the plumbing stuff in the living room, and thought, no, I'm in no position to comment on that.

 

[Penners]

Having been privileged to see the house before you laid a finger on it, FF, I am simply agog with admiration. It was, as Feltwell has observed, headed sadly downhill when you took it on. You have done it more than proud, and rescued/restored a very fine and important building. Wonderful!

 

[DJH]

Surfboard?? Surely that's a shield. It is Norfolk after all...

Doug

 

[malcolm]

Is there a story behind the extra windows on the first floor? Strange looking things.

 

[livias]

What a fascinating house. Those windows are weavers windows, they are generally upstairs (though do I spot a downstairs one here as well?) and they are high and wide to provide good light for said weavers, or I suppose other trades like millinery or shoemaking. They could be inserted later into an older house but I can't see any sign of big windows on the front here so I guess the house was built that way for Mr Weaver, Mrs Weaver and all the little Weavers to live in

Do yo know anything about the history of the house?

Anna

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Some very noticeable and amazing changes since I saw it---what 6 or so years ago? I love the kitchen which is very smart as well as functional! Looking back to your posting circa 2003/4 when you were deliberating the choice you had before you--it seems that your decision was right and brings its rewards.

 

[Flyfisher]

Thank you for the positive comments . . . and the more critical ones as well - it's interesting to hear alternative perspectives, some of which we considered ourselves. I'll try to answer them in separate posts below . . .

 

[Flyfisher]

What a fascinating house. Those windows are weavers windows, they are generally upstairs (though do I spot a downstairs one here as well?) and they are high and wide to provide good light for said weavers, or I suppose other trades like millinery or shoemaking. They could be inserted later into an older house but I can't see any sign of big windows on the front here so I guess the house was built that way for Mr Weaver, Mrs Weaver and all the little Weavers to live in

Do yo know anything about the history of the house?

Anna

Yes, the windows are interesting. My understanding is that they (the small ones) are the original windows. They are on both sides of the house on both storeys - you can see one to the left of the front door in the photo with the render removed (though still covered with lath) and also in the interior photo looking into the new kitchen. There are also others that have been obscured, notably by the added-on chimney stack at the rear, which was crudely built across at least one window (only half of it remains visible). I suspect that others were removed when the Georgian sashes were installed. As I've said before, the house was 'knocked around' a fair bit a few hundred years ago . . . no listing in those days!

I've not heard them described as weavers windows, though I wouldn't be surprised. However, they are not that large in terms of admitting light and I've wondered if they were fairly small and high up the walls in order to minimise drafts if glass was not installed when the timber framed section was built around 1550? We don't know anything of the very early history of the house, so are not sure if the original owners would have been wealthy enough to have glass windows at that time. On the other hand, the house is close-studded and very well built so perhaps they would have been wealthy enough?

During the re-rendering work the small windows were the subject of some, er, 'discussion'. I wanted to render over everything except the large windows and return the house to how it looked in that 1908 photo, which is clearly how it was intended to look after its 'Georgian makeover'. Mrs FF wanted to leave all the upper windows exposed (with the smaller ones filled in), as they were when the house was listed in 1986 and as it was before this re-rendering. My proposed compromise was to leave the small windows exposed but to limewash over them so that the original features were visible but the Georgian intention was much clearer compared to the 'mess' of different windows. You can see from the final photo who wears the trousers in the flyfisher household :wink:

This is just one example of the dilemmas when faced with a property that spans many different periods and styles.

 

[Flyfisher]

OK, I'm going to be honest and I hope you don't mind. I find the plaster on the stairwell a teensy bit too flat and square, I think it just makes it look too modern. I love the fireplace, if I ignore the huge telly but there you are, if people will have these things :wink: .
I love the bit between the sitting room and the kitchen, and love the way the old jettied wall is indoors now, but I wouldn't have gone for such a modern kitchen myself.
And I was going to say I'm intrigued as to why a surfboard at the Christmas dinner table, but then I looked around here at the camping gear in the study, the plumbing stuff in the living room, and thought, no, I'm in no position to comment on that.

Fair comments and I don't mind at all.

I agree about the stairwell plaster, but the thing is, it is new. We have all manner of 'wobbly' plastered ceilings and a few walls, but they have become wobbly because of their age. Especially the ceilings where laths have moved. I'm not convinced that the original plasterers would not have strived for the flattest finish possible, especially in the formal rooms, and I suspect that they were perfectly capable of doing a fine quality job. Therefore, my feeling is that it would be a bit false to pretend otherwise and, in a way, sort of disrespectful to the original craftsmen. But if you think the plaster is bad, you may be even more disappointed to learn that the construction underneath is brick and block :shock:

The kitchen was also the subject of much thought. Fundamentally, it was always our intention to move the kitchen from its tucked away position in the 'annexe' part of the house and into the main part of the house. For better or worse, modern living has put the kitchen at the heart of the home rather than have it tucked away somewhere and managed by domestic staff. Much as I'd like full time domestic staff, it's not within the budget so we felt we had to move it if we were going to bring the house 'back to life'. And I say that seriously, because you can see from the original stairwell photos what happens when parts of houses are unused and therefore neglected. I accept that such areas of neglect are more likely in a large house, but it seemed crazy to us that it should be the best part of the house that was being neglected - hence the plan to relocate the kitchen. This basic plan was discussed and agreed in principle with our CO even before we took the plunge and we felt quite strongly that it was essential to the project.

That said, there were no plans at that time to extend the house and the original intention was to convert the sitting room into a kitchen area. In fact, the second LBC application included that plan and was accepted. However, during detailed planning it became clear that this would not be ideal, not least because of all the new services that would have to be crammed in (the main house had no heating or hot water system), plus it would remove one of the formal rooms and drastically impact the original layout of the house. There were also the more practical issues of how to insulate the room, particularly the rear wall, lower the rear ground level and weather-proof a number of old metal casement windows in the upstairs rear of the house. All of these considerations led to the idea of a kitchen extension. In short, a new kitchen should be a new kitchen, in a new space of its own so as not to disturb the original layout of the house.

The house is not a great example of a pure architectural style and its main it's significance, I think, lies in how it has evolved over the centuries - C16 oak timber frame, C17 flint & rubble addition, C18 chalk block addition . . . and now a C21 brick and block addition. I also think 'addition' is the key thing; it is incremental and not destructive of what was there before - with a few minor exceptions, although perhaps the insertion of the Georgian sash windows could be argued to have been a rather significant alteration.

As for the kitchen itself, these things are always very personal, but we didn't feel the need to recreate a C16/17/18/whatever style kitchen and tried to just keep it simple and functional. We were also very fortunate to find a local company to design and build the bespoke design for a surprisingly reasonable price . . . or perhaps it was only surprising based on our previous Hertfordshire experience! (PM for details if anyone is interested).

I appreciate that not everyone will agree with all our decisions but I thought it might be helpful to explain some of the thinking behind the decisions. At least I can point to all the LBC approvals in my defence. :wink:

Regarding the screen above the fireplace, my only defence is that it's a 'smart TV' but only connected to the interweb (not an aerial - terrestrial or satellite) so that Mrs FF can watch films via Netflix. At least it's a fully reversible addition :wink: Having said that, I admit to be enjoying the BBC 'Horizon' archive at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b006mgxf recently, especially this 1978 programme about the microchip revolution http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01z4rrj/horizon-19771978-now-the-chips-are-down, which was about the time I started working in this new industry. We all know how fast microchip technology has developed, but it's still amazing to be reminded of it sometimes. There's also a wonderful programme about Richard Feynman called 'The Pleasure Of Finding Things Out' . . . . but I digress!


As for the surfboard in the drawing room . . . where else would I keep it? :wink:

 

[Penners]

I find the plaster on the stairwell a teensy bit too flat and square

I've never understood why people feel that "reproduction" plasterwork has to be lumpy and amateurish. The plasterers of yore were just like those of today - there were good ones and bad ones. A house of this status would surely have been plastered by real craftsmen, who would have achieved perfection.

 

[Penners]

Is there a story behind the extra windows on the first floor?

Yes, there's a storey behind them.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Well I'm laughing - won't you join me?

 

[Zebra]

I've never understood why people feel that "reproduction" plasterwork has to be lumpy and amateurish.

The reason is quite simple - an amateur eye. You are of course quite right. :wink:

Luckily I have amateur plastering skills to match my amateur eye.

As to the kitchen and the telly, those were not criticisms I hope as they're both perfectly defensible: simply an expression of taste.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I did not even notice the television set, my eye went straight to the fireplace then the Christmas Tree!!

 

[a twig]

I'm jealous, at the other halfs insistence my 3 custom surfboards have been relegated to a purpose made storage rack in the cellar, I have to make do with a large oil painting of a suitably epic Indonesian reef break at sunset on the wall in our living room instead...