Woodside Barn is situated in Edingale, Tamworth and previously had an agricultural usage. It was purchased by budding self-builders Alan and Karen in 2018, with the view of turning it into their dream home.
The barn backs onto open countryside and is set back from the road giving it a very private and rural feel. It also benefited from class Q planning consent granted before they made the purchase.
The consent deemed that they did not need prior approval to convert the barn into a residential dwelling. However, the proposals put forward by the previous owner were for a modest two-bedroom conversion. Our clients had seen the potential to do something quite remarkable with the barn and achieve much more from it.
Full Planning Approval
Given the fallback position of the class Q approval, new proposals were put forward to the planning officers under a full planning application. This proposal allowed much more scope for utilising the building to its full potential. It included a small extension to form a double garage and link. Despite its countryside location and former agricultural use, this principle was justified to the planning officer with the class Q approval, as the principle of residential use had already been established.
Alan and Karen embraced the barn conversion style. They wanted something quite contemporary and reflected its surroundings and were very pleased with the result, which, all credit to them, was finished with very high-quality furnishing and a keen eye for detail.
The new design took the best advantage of the views and open space, providing them with an ample open-plan kitchen/dining space and increasing the useable floor area of the building by almost double. This meant the originally proposed modest two-bedroom conversion had grown to three good-sized en-suite bedrooms, large open-plan living areas and ancillary spaces such as studies and utility rooms.
Lichfield District Council approved this new larger design in October 2018. Following its completion in 2020, a further application was made to convert the previously approved garage into an additional fourth bedroom and erect a separate detached garage.
We think the finished result shows the possibility that what was once a run-down agricultural shed has now been transformed into a stunning rural home.
