WORDS JANE CRITTENDEN PHOTOS JEREMY PHILLIPS
Carole-Anne Cockayne and Martin Renton were keen to create a bespoke home, so they were initially a little unsure when they spotted a development of six dilapidated 19th century barns. The builder already had planning permission in place – but the couple visited the site anyway, with open minds as to what they might be able to achieve. “We wanted to do a project ourselves rather than buy something that already had a set design and price for the conversion,” says Carole-Anne. “When we met Chris Brewster from Three Oak Construction, however, we could see he had a real passion for restoring old buildings. As we’d enquired quite early on, he said we could have as much input into the design as we liked.”