SPRING TO LIFE
Jill and Tim Perkin took on the full-scale renovation of a farmhouse and garden to accommodate their family, their business, and, of course, their lambs
The full-scale renovation of a Northamptonshire farmhouse has created a home that suits family life, business needs and farm animals
Tim Perkin was rightly thrilled to move into an 18th-century Grade Ii-listed Northamptonshire farmhouse in 1993 as a life tenant. Belonging to one of the oldest privately owned estates in the country, the property was nevertheless barely habitable and so Tim wasted no time in renovating it from scratch, gutting the interior, rewiring and replumbing throughout, and installing central heating.
By the time Jill and her two children moved in with Tim in 2005, most of the major work had been done. ‘I was from a farming background so living here felt like a home from home,’ says Jill. When she became involved in the second stage of renovations, Jill’s priority was to adapt the house for the larger family and the catering business she had at the time. ‘Tim and I had to reorganise the house as we each had two children from previous relationships,’ she says. The kitchen, which had been divided up into two small rooms on
different levels, was a space the couple felt they had to reconfigure. Working as a professional caterer in these two tiny rooms was a challenge, so the living room became a spacious kitchen-diner and the two small rooms became a sitting room and a utility room. There were a couple of pleasant surprises in the course of the renovation. ‘We uncovered two original fireplaces hidden behind plasterboard,’ says Jill, ‘So the Aga was fitted into one of the openings and a wood burner was installed in the new sitting room.’
Keen to retain the charm of the farmhouse, the couple also kept the original blue brick floor in the kitchen as well as the floorboards in the sitting room – complementing the beautiful beams that Tim stripped as part of the original renovation. Not only was the new kitchen the perfect size for Jill’s business, it also became the heart of the house, where everyone congregated and still do to this day, even though the children have now grown up and have their own homes. ‘The biggest challenge was to make all our things work together as a whole because our styles are varied and we have old and new pieces,’ says Jill. Decorating in a calming neutral palette and simplifying what they put in each room has made the house work better overall.
The Perkins are proud of how they’ve been able to adapt the house to suit every stage in their family life together. ‘Since our children have flown the nest, the house and its granary have given us the opportunity to diversify with a B&B and wedding function business (stayatparkfarm.co.uk) alongside Tim’s beef and sheep farming,’ she says. ‘It’s a great home for us as a couple and also our visitors – and best of all, the family all gravitate back, which is a joy.’