Sand, sand, sand......

The poor builders start sanding the beams - it takes a LONG time - this one took over an hour

but it's worth it as they look fantastic once done

Good to have friends

I took my great pal Dawn over to see the house - she very gamely drove all the way from Northumberland (where she's done her own Grade II refurb) and gave me the benefit of her wisdom and input.  Some great ideas.  She suggested making the top floor a guest suite with bedroom & en-suite (rather than two bedrooms), putting the en-suite to the master bedroom on the mezzanine level & changing the position of the stairs in the garden room...........will make such a difference.  So helpful to have mates who are spatially aware.  She's trying to reign me in on the garden - wise advice even if it's not much fun!!!

the work starts towards the end of November 2013 with the removal of some very old, very sticky wallpaper

Antique wallpaper

The builders start stripping the old wallpaper and find some very old wallpaper under layers of newer stuff........thankfully this was removed before the planner saw it!

There's a lot of work to do.............

Plans and Planning

The house was built in the 17th and 18th century, so is Grade II listed.............that means that the local council planning department have to approve all the plans - internal & external and even the colour of the paint.  There's a lot of information to pull together and the builder and architect have been out at the house cataloguing walls, doors, windows etc etc.

The previous owners bought the house in 1967 and it feels like it's been a really happy home for them.  They've moved along the road to another part of the village so will be neighbours in due course.

The planner doesn't like the initial plans :-(  He says the house's special merit is in it's simple agricultural layout and so won't let me change the walls or stairs, so David the architect, Johnny the builder and I have to work around this.

.....now the proud owner of a Cotswold pile.....