Holdenby cottages
Holdenby is a small hamlet just north of Northampton, set in the grounds of the famous Holdenby House estate. This was a building plot that came up for sale, which a developer friend of mine bought.
The plot was set opposite an existing row of cottages and came with planning permission.
There were three new two-storey cottages to build and they had to replicate the existing houses, built of local sand/iron stone with a plane tile roof. We carefully followed the band details running across the roof to match the existing exactly. The same was for the timber detailing to the eaves, facias, etc.
The inside of the three cottages was mainly down to the individual purchaser, as they were all sold well before completion. In all three, we handmade the kitchens in our workshop we used cast iron guttering and down pipes again to match what was already there. The heating was propane gas boilers with the propane tanks buried in the rear gardens, so as not to spoil the view and maximize the garden space.
The outside of the cottages was painted to match the colour of the rest of the estate, as stated in the original contract of sale. It’s been nearly seven years since they have been completed and to look at them now you would think they were built around the same time as the originals…….
