readers’ homes

Perry and Sally Morrison’s award-winning conversion project is carbon-neutral to run and built from natural materials

WORDS ALEXANDRA PRATT

Green window and door frames add colour to the exterior, and look great amidst the timber and stone exterior

The house is the well-deserved winner of the prestigious Cornish Building Group Awards 2022

PHOTOS SIMON BURT

Perry and Sally Morrison had been keen to build a new home for 15 years and were living in Oxfordshire when they started to look for a suitable plot. “We lost out on a few opportunities, so we sold up to be in a better buying position,” says Perry. “We happened to be on holiday in Cornwall when we saw this one.” For sale was a chalet bungalow in need of renovation and a single-storey agricultural building in poor condition. There was no planning permission for conversion, but the site came with plenty of space for the vegetable garden, chickens, bees and orchard that the couple had in mind.

They bought the land and focused their plans on transforming the agricultural building into their perfect home. After a couple of false starts with different architects, the couple met local home designer Matt Robinson. “We just hit it off,” says Perry. “We knew what we wanted to build and he got it.” The couple were after a sustainable home and defined that in two ways – abuilding that was carbon-neutral to run, using alternative heating systems and renewable energy, and as natural a structure as possible. “We are aware of sick building syndrome and wanted to tread lightly,” says Perry. “We wanted to be surrounded by natural materials.”