With four bedrooms, three reception rooms and five bathrooms, Stacey Bramhall’s gorgeous converted barn ‘dream home’ is unrecognisable from how it stood in a previous life.
When Stacey, 44, first set eyes on the dilapidated structure in the village of Long Ashton, Somerset, she was able to see beyond what it looked like, and instead concentrated on its potential.
She knew it was where she and her family, including husband Jamie, 49, and their two children Finn, ten, and Grace, seven, would make their forever home - despite having been a pigsty, as well as a Morse Code training centre in World War II.
What’s more, she allowed the pigs to stay while the 14-month renovation work was carried out!
“We were looking to gain an extra bedroom as we were growing out of our small, three-bedroom semi-detached home. But the next house size up was going to set us back £200,000,” Stacey, a PR consultant, tells me.
“We’d lived in Long Ashton for seven years and at the end of the village there is a farm shop at Gatcombe Farm. In the summer of 2019, we had seen that they were selling a development of six barns for over £1million and thought a developer would snap them up to create a beautiful estate of barn conversions.
“But when I asked the farmer, I was shocked they were being sold individually and I quickly called Jamie to tell him they were for sale separately and they were in our budget! We were both so excited at the prospect of building our own home and so close to where we already lived and had built our life with our young children.
“We just fell in love with it. I knew that if we wanted a bigger home, we would have to build it ourselves. And this barn had character and would make a good base. It used to be an RAF barracks in WW2 and was originally built in RAF Yatesbury in Wiltshire then relocated here by the farmer - he dismantled the whole barn, put it on the back of a lorry and drove it to Bristol and reassembled all 24 metres of it!
“The pigs were part of the charm and actually stayed with us for a few months after we bought the barn. They were there when we looked round and the kids loved feeding them.”
Stacey and Jamie bought the barn as lockdown was slowing down building works in 2020.
It stands on an old Roman settlement, with oak, ash and sycamore trees all around, with a pear tree from a long-forgotten orchard. They also bought a static caravan and moved it in place to live on site while the build was going ahead - it’s where they and the children stayed for 14 months. It meant they could do as much of the work as possible themselves in their spare time, which in turn meant they could stick to a strict budget.
In January 2021, Stacey and Jamie knocked down the breezeblock walls, removed the rubbish and the pig-pens, and reinforced the wooden beams in preparation for the builders. They wanted to retain as much as possible from the original structure, and Stacey said, following a jokey comment from her father-in-law, she had an aim of being finished in time for Christmas that year (which she was).
The builders arrived in April 2021 to finish the structure, taking five months to build, watertight and plaster the walls, and fit the bathroom suites. Then Stacey hired a kitchen fitter and the couple decorated the entire property themselves - after being quoted £18,000 just to paint the barn’s interior white - including the larch cladding.
“When building it, it was estimated we saved £200,000 to £300,000 just doing things ourselves and being more efficient. If you have the time and inclination to do it yourself, you can save a lot of money. It was thrilling and exhausting all at the same time,” Stacey laughs.
“Constant decisions and ordering things online - all the components for the four bathrooms, doors, skirting boards, door frames, door handles, lights, carpets and flooring. It was mood boards and samples galore but we loved it!”
For the interior decor of the house, Stacey and Jamie were inspired by their love of the sea and the beach, integrating calm coastal vibes into the theme of each of the rooms. There’s a sea blue colour palette throughout the house. Using sky blue, teal and natural wood, all rooms have a nod to the ocean - whether it is a piece of artwork or a blue hue, shabby-chic cabinets, soft lines, driftwood, bamboo light shade, and basket textures with woven bamboo and rattan lights. Stacey tiled the bathroom floor with Berkeley tiles and used Attingham Seagrass tiles in the kitchen. And a ladder found in the old barn has been perched between an exposed wooden beam with a surfboard by Shocking Surfboards resting against it.
The kitchen - complete with a pingpong table - boasts a Neff induction hob, Samsung fridge and Lusso boiling water tap. Stacey also hunted in plumbing shops for taps and basins that had been on display and bought them cut-price.
“The big, open-plan kitchen-dining-living room is our favourite place in the house as it’s where the action happens,” Stacey, who 20 years ago set up and ran Butlers In The Buff, smiles. “There are two sets of four-metre-wide bifold doors, which make the room feel incredibly light and airy, while bringing in the outside. I’ve also got lots of plants in there and a huge kitchen island.
“It’s also the most social room. It’s a party room! Everyone wants to hang out in there; the kids can watch TV while I cook and Jamie, a landscape gardener who runs Greenwave Landscaping, can design his transformations.
“Also, the bedrooms are at the other end of the barn, so we can make lots of noise and it doesn’t wake up the kids!”
So what were Stacey’s main challenges with the renovation?
“Staying on budget,” she admits. “Things always end up costing more than you think. Covid was at its peak so getting to the shops was hard so most of the things we used in the house were ordered online. And we constantly had to make decisions!
“But our aims were to create our dream house, stay on budget - and move in for Christmas 2021 - all of which we did!
“When I think back to when it was a pigsty, it’s hard to believe what we’ve achieved. Although sometimes it still looks like a pigsty with all the kids stuff that they leave everywhere!”
