Site before and after reconstruction
The owner of this property saw an article in “Country Homes and Interiors” which featured Kilfamma. She came over to Ireland to see it and asked me to prepare a scheme for her own house near Soham which is shown below. It was very enjoyable working with her – a most redoubtable lady with extraordinary energy.
The house outside Soham consisted of an original building of circa 1830 and a 1960’s extension. It occupied a lovely position and the owner had created beautiful gardens and a large lake opposite the house. The site deserved a generous scheme using its many advantages.
It seemed best to repeat the 1960’s north “wing” on the south side while bringing the wings forward so creating a curved link with the central original house. The elevations of the wings were Palladian with shallow roof slopes and elegant recessed arches set around the ground floor windows the string courses being returned at the window reveals so forming the spring of the arches. The drawings are included below.
This was a commission by an owner occupier, not for our own occupation. I thus ensured that an architect approved the drawings and made the planning application. This was done. On reviewing the application drawings I was dismayed to find that critical design features had been ignored and short cuts in drafting adopted without justification. These severely undermined the quality of the design and I was unable to approve these drawings. As it turned out the owners wished to keep control of the works in all its details and my role came to an end.
The house outside Soham consisted of an original building of circa 1830 and a 1960’s extension. It occupied a lovely position and the owner had created beautiful gardens and a large lake opposite the house. The site deserved a generous scheme using its many advantages.
It seemed best to repeat the 1960’s north “wing” on the south side while bringing the wings forward so creating a curved link with the central original house. The elevations of the wings were Palladian with shallow roof slopes and elegant recessed arches set around the ground floor windows the string courses being returned at the window reveals so forming the spring of the arches. The drawings are included below.
This was a commission by an owner occupier, not for our own occupation. I thus ensured that an architect approved the drawings and made the planning application. This was done. On reviewing the application drawings I was dismayed to find that critical design features had been ignored and short cuts in drafting adopted without justification. These severely undermined the quality of the design and I was unable to approve these drawings. As it turned out the owners wished to keep control of the works in all its details and my role came to an end.
