GLOUCESTERSHIRE FARM BUILDING
Taking their time and mining the past have allowed Elle Kemp and Martin Gane to create a relaxed home in a former piggery
Practical skills came in useful when converting a listed piggery into a charming home
Building a home from scratch has always been a shared dream,’ says interior designer Elle Kemp. ‘In fact, my husband Martin and I hatched a plan on our first date.’ Their desire to design a fresh-from-the-ground-up home evolved into a mission to renovate a former piggery, once part of a neighbouring farm. ‘The barn next door had already been converted and the piggery had been given a new roof and footings,’ explains Elle. Yet seeing the completed barn was a cautionary tale. ‘The mid1800s buildings are Grade II curtilage listed, which means it is the farmhouse that has the listed status but that extends to the outbuildings,’ she continues. ‘From the outside, you could see the barn development ticked all the boxes for listed consent but, inside, there was nothing left – it was just a standard modern home.’
Elle and Martin bought the piggery in 2012, just months before their son Claude was born. It provided the location, garden and character the couple longed for but the compromise came in the size of the space. ‘We had to be clever with our design,’ explains Elle. A draughtsman created drawings to take to planning and the couple spent a long time in pre-submission discussions. It wasn’t until 2016 that they could move in, by which time they had baby Gilbert, too.
Their design has stayed appropriate to the building’s agricultural past and is filled with traditional details. ‘There’s not much natural light so, at first, I fell into the
❝ MARTIN MADE ALL THE TIMBERWORK, TAUGHT HIMSELF HOW TO LAY OUT STAIRS AND LEARNT HOW MATERIALS❞ TO WORK WITH SUSTAINABLE
trap of painting it all light colours,’ recalls Elle, ‘but it made no difference, so we repainted in a palette we liked – earthy shades of olive, gold and tan. Martin once said he’d like the colours here to feel like his old tweed jacket; it was a throwaway line but I ran with it,’ says Elle.
The limited budget has been a bonus for this renovation. The couple sourced fixtures and fittings from reclamation yards and ebay. The kitchen is the latest room to be completed and is inspired by the sculleries and pantries of old houses, with traditional pubs also a big influence. ‘The black gloss paintwork came directly from our favourite pub, The Woolpack in Slad, which is full of Laurie Lee memorabilia and has these amazing black gloss settles,’ explains Elle.
Throughout the project, Martin helped out any tradesmen that came in, boosting his skills for future projects, from plumbing to the lime plastering. ‘We really have taught ourselves how to build a house,’ says Elle. ‘Martin laid the floors, made all the timberwork, taught himself how to lay out stairs and learnt how to work with sustainable materials. It has set him off on a whole new path that is all about working with nature. It has also shown us exactly who we are as designers. We really are at our happiest when curating and editing that which already exists, rather than making something new. This house sums it up: we relax as soon as we walk through the door. It’s home and it feels right.