The
restoration process
Planning permission for restoring the main house was granted in the summer 2013. Eighteen months of painstaking restoration has followed. The Grade 1 listed status has meant that all exterior façade details needed to be protected and preserved. Inside we have sought to dismantle, restore and re-use as many of the old materials as we could salvage including the original wooden beams, stone walls and terracotta floor tiles.
The unrealised internal and external staircases have been completed. Ventilated cavity walls have been introduced to all the vertical perimeters adjacent to the old quarry faces to ensure breathability of the old sandstone basal rock. Between 8-12cm of new breathable cork insulation has been introduced throughout all walls and roofs. The aim is to create a house that is cool in the summer and warm & dry in winter, thus doing away with a need for costly artificial heating & cooling.
The proximity of the house to the village has allowed us to connect to mains electricity. Solar thermal heating panels have been installed. These keep the property supplied with 500 litres of hot water throughout the year. Three new bathrooms and a downstairs toilet have been introduced. The new plumbing system has been built to keep grey-water and black-water separate. This means that all the grey-water produced by bathrooms sinks and showers is purified and recycled for irrigation whereas the black water (toilets & kitchen) is diverted to a new biological filter.
If you are considering investing in a property on the island and perhaps embarking on a restoration project we would be very happy to assist. Our journey over the last three years has given us an intimate knowledge both for finding similar unrestored gems as well as the building/restoration process itself.
If you are interested in meeting our restoration team please click here.
Planning permission for restoring the main house was granted in the summer 2013. Eighteen months of painstaking restoration has followed. The Grade 1 listed status has meant that all exterior façade details needed to be protected and preserved. Inside we have sought to dismantle, restore and re-use as many of the old materials as we could salvage including the original wooden beams, stone walls and terracotta floor tiles.
The unrealised internal and external staircases have been completed. Ventilated cavity walls have been introduced to all the vertical perimeters adjacent to the old quarry faces to ensure breathability of the old sandstone basal rock. Between 8-12cm of new breathable cork insulation has been introduced throughout all walls and roofs. The aim is to create a house that is cool in the summer and warm & dry in winter, thus doing away with a need for costly artificial heating & cooling.
The proximity of the house to the village has allowed us to connect to mains electricity. Solar thermal heating panels have been installed. These keep the property supplied with 500 litres of hot water throughout the year. Three new bathrooms and a downstairs toilet have been introduced. The new plumbing system has been built to keep grey-water and black-water separate. This means that all the grey-water produced by bathrooms sinks and showers is purified and recycled for irrigation whereas the black water (toilets & kitchen) is diverted to a new biological filter.
If you are considering investing in a property on the island and perhaps embarking on a restoration project we would be very happy to assist. Our journey over the last three years has given us an intimate knowledge both for finding similar unrestored gems as well as the building/restoration process itself.
If you are interested in meeting our restoration team please click here.