readers’ homes

More than 40 years after Martin Gurnett’s father built an atcost barn on the family farm in Essex, Martin and his wife Fiona Jenkins converted the structure into a contemporary home

WORDS REBECCA FOSTER

The striking M-shaped barn results from the original concrete frame. Cedral’s fibre cement cladding on the upper storey is a distinct contrast to the brick

PHOTOS LYNDON DOUGLAS

Thanks to his creative background in theatre, Martin Gurnett was always drawn to the idea of building a house from scratch. In fact, when he buried a time capsule at the turn of the millennium, Martin recorded his dream to create a bespoke home even then. “I knew that simply buying a house and changing the decor wouldn’t satisfy my desires – I wanted to craft something unique,” he says. It wasn’t until 2016, when Martin met his wife Fiona Jenkins, that he felt ready to tackle a self build project. “The chance to create something with Fiona was an unmissable opportunity.”

From the outset, Martin knew his route to constructing a bespoke home would involve converting the atcost barn situated on the farm owned by his family. Martin’s father purchased the property, which also encompasses a farmhouse, Essex barn and several other agricultural outbuildings, in the late 1970s. “After my father died in 2010, my mother continued living there for another two years until she found it too much to manage,” he says. “However, we managed to keep the property by renting out the farmhouse and letting the fields and buildings to a local farmer.”

Set apart from the other buildings on the property, the atcost barn benefits from the best views on the site, which made it the obvious contender for conversion. Martin and Fiona approached local design practice, Arcady Architects, with their initial wish list for the house. “We sent ideas for what we’d like, such as the location of the rooms and which ones would face the best views,” says Martin.

Developing the design

Arcady put together three different design concepts – one of which was developed by a visiting Spanish architect. “It was stunning, with a huge glass atrium and central garden at the heart of the building,” says Martin. “Though it was lovely, cleaning all that glass would have been too much maintenance for us.” A proposal by Jon Crisp, the practice’s director, suited them better.