Paddock House
Paddock House was formerly a charming New Forest house whose character had been consumed by a series of unsympathetic modern extensions. It had been left unloved for a number of years and had fallen into a rather tired state; and its poor condition was sadly highlighted by the beautiful paddock setting which surrounded the house.
When our clients approached us in 2014 they tasked us with sensitively extending and refurbishing the house to create a light-filled modern family home that engaged more with its wonderful setting.
We set about developing a vision that would re-instate the original character of the house whilst opening it out to the lovely views over the paddock. We started by stripping off the incongruous extensions to the front of the house and replacing them with a 2 storey glazed section set between two white rendered gables.
To the rear of the house we removed the heavy masonry walls overlooking the paddock and replaced them with a glazed extension open on three sides of the house to give all round views of the lovely setting. The structure of the new extension extends out beyond the glazing in the form of a pergola structure; the gesture seeks to connect the internal spaces with the terrace and the fire pit, creating a protective external space from which to enjoy the forest.
Internally the spaces were completely gutted and reorganised to create more generous open plan rooms.
Photography: Martin Gardner, martingardner.com
