open plan visioning…

open plan visioning…

We’ve reached the stage in our renovation journey, where we’ve been thinking of the next stage. Our stone house is now renovated – or, at least renovated as far as we want to go. We could have a (modest) swimming pool built, but being realistic, we have weighed up how much use it would actually get v the costs of installation and upkeep. It’s a lovely idea, but we think we’ve parked this particular project for now. We have just completed on the purchase of land & a small building to the rear of the house, and this is keeping us occupied, as we do the initial work we can do ourselves – tidying it up – without being able to rely on our builder, at the moment.

So, a decision was made, a few months ago, and having found another property we’d like to buy and renovate, we’re going to sell this house. The global pandemic that we all find ourselves in the midst of, has obviously put paid to any kind of real marketing, but we have a website and as soon as things start to settle down and some normality returns, we will pick up on these plans again. The property we are interested in, is very, very different to our current house. In fact, very different to anything we have ever lived in – or ever imagined living in. We don’t want to give too much away, but if it all works out, we’ll be living our lives in a very different way. The building is an old industrial unit and largely open plan, one one level. It does have rooms, but the walls are only partition and so the plan would be to reconfigure the space, but retaining a huge open plan area. So, I’ve been researching…

Because of the style and construction of the property, we think it will lend itself to an industrial style interior, and so I’ve been drawn to the feel of the above spaces. It’ll be another leap into the unknown, but we’re very excited at the prospect of what could lie ahead. Might have to get in touch with Kevin McCloud…

Photographs : all sourced from Pinterest

 

 

the first viewing

the first viewing

Our second trip to The House, this time to view internally, was much less problematic direction-wise, as we were already becoming used to the Istrian roads. What had seemed like a very long journey and an isolated location the previous day, all of a sudden seemed a whole lot more accessible and whilst in a rural location, certainly not isolated. This gave us heart as we had had creeping doubts the evening before, thinking we were potentially going to be cutting ourselves off.

The house we had found had been a family holiday home. It had been extensively structurally renovated, and closer inspection showed it to be in great condition. New roof, new guttering & downpipes, new windows and shutters – although no pool. As yet.

Once inside, we really saw the potential of this gem we had discovered…

A working Istrian stone water well

A working Istrian stone water well

We found out that the house had once been the only one in the village with a water supply. Although things have moved on quite considerably, the well is still working – quite a feature, but one we have some exciting plans for. Connected to the room above, is the living room. The living area is very spacious – we could immediately see the potential once cleared of the furniture and decorated in our style. Shuttered windows on facing walls, once opened, flooded the room with sunlight.

Living room

Living room

We love a woodburner, but maybe not this one...

We love a woodburner, but maybe not this one…

The main bedroom is huge – so much scope and potential, and unlike the rooms downstairs, it has high vaulted ceilings with original beams. Like the other rooms, it is a complete blank canvas as is largely undecorated so we can really begin to make our own mark over time.

Main bedroom

Main bedroom

The second bedroom is ripe for conversion – originally used by the children of the family when on holiday, it is packed full of bunk beds and so seems quite small. However, once these are out, we’ll have another spacious room to play around with.

Second bedroom

Second bedroom

The current bathroom upstairs is very small and so our plan will be to transform the third bedroom into the main bathroom and knock through from the main bedroom into the current bathroom to create an en-suite. This means that when people stay they have exclusive use of the main bathroom. The smallest bedroom currently looks like this…

Third bedroom

Third bedroom

Under the living room is an area which was used for storage, but we immediately saw its potential as a really cosy second living room. The room where our beautiful Dovre woodburner will eventually be housed.

This room will be transformed into a cosy living area…

This room will be transformed into a cosy living area…

The current kitchen, although large, is separated from the rest of the living area and so the idea is to go open-plan. We want the living room/well room/kitchen to become a space which is completely used, with no area wasted. It’ll be a structural job and a half but we’re more than ready for this particular challenge…

Kitchen, ripe for renovation

Kitchen, ripe for renovation

So, without hopefully giving too much away at this stage, this is what our new life is shaping up to look like…