“Originally, our two outbuildings were a cow shed with a sand and mud floor that needed a full refurb, and the other was a farm building that already had a concrete floor but was just used for storage. There was no insulation, heating or electricity in either. The actual Oast hadn’t been refurbished since around the 1980s so it needed a lot of updating. Our living room was an extension with amazing views but tiny windows, so we wanted to extend it and add huge, sliding glass doors.
Vernacular Homes took care of everything from planning to design and construction. The whole team would walk through the space to see how best to use it. They were great at coming up with ideas for maximising space; for example, we had an odd-shaped living room but they came up with some great ways of dividing it up to make it work.
We also wanted to replace one of the bedrooms with a bathroom but didn’t quite know what to do with it; they suggested breaking through from the bedroom above to make it an amazing ensuite room.
We were impressed with their planning too; at the time due to the Covid 19 pandemic, there were shortages of materials and costs were rising, but because they had pre-bought everything and stored it on site, there were no delays and it cost us less. They were always very clear all along about the budget. They also ensured we could live on site throughout; they completed the outbuildings first and we moved into one while the build continued.
Now the build is finished, we have a cottage for family and friends to stay in when visiting, and the other outbuilding is one big room which my wife uses as a yoga studio, and my son plays his drums in there too. The house itself is awesome; we love it.
If we’d simply hired a builder and managed the project ourselves, we’d have got a very different result; it certainly wouldn’t have been as user-friendly. We always felt that being a family business, Vernacular Homes took that extra bit of care: that it mattered to them to do a really good job for their clients and maintain the family name. They even stayed in touch post-build, just in case we had any issues, which we don’t but just a few months ago, we wanted something changed on the sink and they did it free of charge. We’ve recommended them to friends who are now half-way through their build with Vernacular and they’re very happy.”