When we bought a customary cottage, we had no thoughts concerning trying to conserve the early colors. However we then looked at ironmongery products and our design soon transformed.
The home itself was more than 160 years old and sat next to a massive old listed building. Its boundary wall as well as exterior walls protected by curtilage laws which we seen when applying for prepping agreement to rebuild a few outbuildings. Attached was a garage,
a former stable and barn which we initially planned to bulldoze to erect a fresh studio store for my husband's work.
We were very stunned at the local curiosity in our plans including the neighbours who visited offering their suggestions plus ideas. The biggest interest came from the people adjacent to us, they invited us round to catch sight of the affect our plans would have on their outlook. One neighbour was an architect who volunteered his services for free if we agreed to sustain the shell of the out-buildings as well as only altered the interiors. He even created drawings to show us how this may be achieved.
The suitable thing in relation to this choice was the serious cost it would save us, but some external changes would still be needed. The doors, for example, had been replaced no end of years earlier and were rotten plus far too flimsy to afford any real assurance. The architect's wife, who was a designer, did her research plus showed us what the original doors ought to look like plus the variety of ironmongery they would have. The next thing we knew, we were scouring reclamation yards looking for correct doors.
The type of door wanted comprised of three vertical boards which were tongue and grooved together as well as secured by a leg plus brace support. These would be affixed by both normal plus T hinges (sometimes called cross garnets) for complete security. When we finally found what we were looking for, work had already started on the barn conversion as preparing consent was no longer required.
Buying the ironmongery for the doors separately was much easier than finding doors. We found a website that provided hand-forged ironmongery, our neighbour helped us to select authentic as well as secure products, plumping for black ironmongery that had a traditional beeswax finish.
As well as cross garnets as well as hinges, we also chose a matching Suffolk-style latch for the main door to sit over a sturdy lock. The internal door had a beehive type doorknob, which not only looked good but was so tactile to the touch that we decided to replace all our door handles in the cottage with this type of doorknob. The only difference was that in the home we opted for a nickel finish, whilst in the new studio, we chose wooden doorknobs.
I found converting the barn very rewarding specially the decorative details plus when looking round the cottage there were so many ways to improve its appearance in making it more of a period home. It cast my mind back to the folks who must have built it originally and which materials they used, no doubt the neighborhood blacksmith would have been involved to hand forge all the ironmongery.
When the barn conversion was ready, I retained the service of the builder plus carpenter to help me restore the house to its former magnificence by replacing mismatched doors as well as unifying the ironmongery, as well as replacing fireplaces and restoring more design features. Once you begin, you can go on forever, but at least now I know why my neighbours are so animated about retaining early character as well as respecting their heritage
