EAST SUSSEX COTTAGE
for Amanda And niall Burnside, renovating their characterful medieval cottage to Bring it into the 21st century has Been A labour of love
Renovating this charming village property was a labour of love
cottage is listed and made of wattle and daub and lath and plaster, listed building consent has to be obtained for any renovation work.
The cottage has a fascinating history – originally it consisted of just a service room and medieval solar with a forge in the middle. The dining room and the end of the front room were once a cowshed added in the 1800s, while the kitchen and study were part of the bakehouse. It has also been a wheelwright’s and an undertaker’s at different points in its past.
Once the family moved in, a number of unexpected issues emerged. ‘At first we hardly had any water pressure,’ says Amanda. ‘It took half an hour to run a bath a few inches deep, and we all had to share the water!’ To solve the problem, a new water main had to be installed from the road. Then Niall looked in the water tank in the loft. ‘There were dead rodents in it!’ recalls Amanda. ‘We had to use bottled water to clean our teeth until a new tank was put in.’ Nor was there any proper insulation in the house, which meant that their first winter was very cold. ‘Niall had to wear a hat in bed,’ says Amanda.
The elderly couple who previously lived in the cottage used only part of the space and, although
they had worked sympathetically with the property, a number of rooms required restoration. ‘There are 18 and in our three years here we’ve done eight,’ says Amanda. ‘We’re gradually dragging a 600-year-old house into the 21st century!’
The couple are doing most of the work themselves, undertaking many upcycling projects along the way. ‘Every job has been far bigger than we thought,’ says Amanda. ‘I took up a pink carpet in the boys’ snug and discovered that all the joists were rotten. Niall spent two weeks replacing them and putting all the original floorboards back in the same order!’
Amanda has decorated in a modern country style in keeping with the property’s heritage. ‘We’re sensitive to its age,’ she says. ‘We wanted to keep it neutral with greys and beiges – no colours or patterned wallpaper. I like Scandi style so we have painted floorboards, and we have also exposed fireplaces.
‘It’s small from the outside but it goes back a long way. The dining room is in the middle so we tend to congregate there, and we’ve added seating areas in the garden, as well as a pizza oven made by Niall, so we are able to have lots of friends and family over. We love our sociable house – it’s very easy to live in.’