Northampton Builders - Ashmore Built » Holdenby Cottages

How do you get new cottages to fit in with the originals?

Ashmore — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:42:53 +0000

By building them in the same period style, using reclaimed original materials wherever possible. Or sourcing the next best thing: new materials that are as closely matched as possible to the originals. There’s plenty of reclaim yards around and books and websites to help with your research. Start by looking locally, as often that’s where the materials will have come from in the first place.

One of our proudest moments was working on the prestigious Holdenby Cottages. From day one our brief was simple. The cottages had to fit in with other buildings in the area. And they were mainly historical ones.

The key steps we took to fulfil the brief were:

Choosing materials such as locally sourced stone with the same seams and graining
Finding roof tiles including a patterned band tile for a close match
Sourcing classic window designs
Using cast iron guttering to keep the look authentic
Matching paint colours with the bespoke colours used across the estate.

The red paint mix proved particularly difficult as the pigments in the paint proved prone to discolouring in the sun. As a result alternative supplies had to be sought and key areas repainted.

Some six years later, the three new cottages that we built on the estate of Holdenby are still looking fantastic. They’ve aged and blended in so well that it’s hard to see which ones they are.

If you’re interested in visiting the cottages, you can find them in the grounds of Holdenby House.

Just in case you’re interested, Holdenby is a wonderful place to visit. Built by Sir Christopher Hatton to entertain Elizabeth I, Holdenby became the Palace of James I and the prison of his son, Charles I. Now a family home, the house is the splendid backdrop to a beautiful garden and Falconry Centre, where visitors can watch magnificent birds of prey soar over the scene of so much history.

If you need help with new build cottages in historically significant villages, don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Harry’s barn – a prestigious barn conversion

Ashmore — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:34:50 +0000

Harry was so pleased with the work we did on his house he asked us to look at refurbishing his barn as well.

Take a look at the barn before it’s been started and chart its progress.

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Holdenby cottages

Ashmore — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:04:08 +0000

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 perfectly. 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 and we used cast iron guttering and down pipes again to match what was already there. The heating was by 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. What do you think?

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