[About]This sensitive refurbishment and extension reimagines a 17th-century Cheshire cottage for contemporary family living, carefully balancing the character of the original home with the demands of modern life.
Moat Hall Cottage
Cheshire
The brief was to create a home that embraced family life, entertaining and a stronger connection to the surrounding gardens, while preserving the historic character and rural charm of the cottage.
The principal challenge lay in navigating the planning constraints of the Cheshire Green Belt while fulfilling the clients’ ambition to maximise the property’s potential, both in terms of design and scale, without compromising its historic character.
Although the cottage was not listed, the design team worked closely with heritage and conservation specialists to understand the significance of each part of the building and its evolution over time. This collaborative approach informed every design decision, ensuring new interventions respected the original fabric while allowing the home to evolve confidently for contemporary family life. Rather than competing with the existing cottage, the principal intervention extends an existing gable into the garden through a delicate glazed link, creating a contemporary addition that remains subservient to the original building while transforming the way the home is experienced.
The extension forms a generous open-plan kitchen, dining and living space that has become the heart of the home.
A vaulted ceiling reveals remarkable timber beams dating back to the 1400s, celebrating the building’s long history, while a bridged first-floor walkway leads to a new principal bedroom suite overlooking the space below.
Large glazed openings dissolve the boundary between inside and out, connecting directly to a series of carefully designed gardens, outdoor dining terraces and an external kitchen, allowing family life and entertaining to extend seamlessly into the landscape. The result is a home that demonstrates how thoughtful contemporary architecture can enrich a historic building, creating light-filled spaces for modern living while preserving the heritage, craftsmanship and character that make the cottage unique.
