We've Bought an Historical Old Vicarage!

[Daisys and Diamonds]

The image of the two gents on a beach is, I'm pretty certain, taken at Kynance Cove in Cornwall. The large rocks around there are named, think this is Lion Rock.

wow !
well done you

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Hope things are (going) full steam ahead! Do you get much snow where you live? We do, so it can interfere with projects.

Tell us all that is fit to print!

cheer--Sharon

 

[Ally T]

HI:

Hope things are (going) full steam ahead! Do you get much snow where you live? We do, so it can interfere with projects.

Tell us all that is fit to print!

cheer--Sharon

Yes, they are absolutely full steam ahead! We popped in yesterday to show Hope the progress, as she's been away on a school exchange to Martha's Vinyard for 10 days ! it's been over 2 weeks since her last visit. She was amazed at how much has changed!

HI:

Hope things are (going) full steam ahead! Do you get much snow where you live? We do, so it can interfere with projects.

Tell us all that is fit to print!

cheer--Sharon

Yes, they are absolutely full steam ahead! We popped in yesterday to show Hope the progress, as she's been away on a school exchange to Martha's Vineyard for 10 days & it's been almost 3 weeks since she last visited. She was amazed & excited at the changes!

We have full concrete flooring in the new kitchen extension & garage / gym block. We have door ways into the new ensuite bathrooms & the chimney breast between the Master Bedroom & Lola's room is almost fully out on one side, the other side was being done today.

 

[Ally T]

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

So green there! No snow!!!

cheers--Sharon

 

[Ally T]

HI:

So green there! No snow!!!

cheers--Sharon

No snow....yet! We usually get snow anytime during Dec, Jan, Feb & occasionally in March.

 

[RMOO]

Will you refresh my memory: What is are the plans regarding the fireplaces? Are you replacing with gas inserts or removing altogether?

Love seeing the progress snaps!

 

[Ally T]

Will you refresh my memory: What is are the plans regarding the fireplaces? Are you replacing with gas inserts or removing altogether?

Love seeing the progress snaps!

Unfortunately there isn't any gas supply to the village & all the fireplaces were coal, which is being phased out completely in the UK over the coming few years, as will gas - no new build houses here will have gas. We are removing the oil tank & having solar panels fitted to the garage roof & will be fully electric.

This chimney breast is the only one being removed, due to huge dual aspect windows in the master bedroom, leaving very little space for bed, wardrobes, draws, ensuite door etc. The fact that the flashing on the chimney stack has gone & the breast was very damp made it an easy decision.

Immediately below on the ground floor are the Media & Music Rooms, where the breasts will stay. In the Media room (the one in the picture with the huge wooden fireplace & weird ceramic 1950's log burner) the fireplace opening has been sealed, has had a new lintel & will be plastered & fitted with internal shelves. There will be a big TV on the wall & in the recess underneath on the new shelves will be games consoles & TV box etc.

In the Music Room on the other side, again the chimney has been sealed up, but it will be tiled, have under-lighting with spots & then the original wooden mantel will be re-fitted. This one on the original pictures had an oval mirror in the top wood section (which isn't going back up). I intend to have a host of large plants & ferns sitting inside the fireplace & make a lovely feature of it. We are aiming to keep any original features where possible & as my antique walnut piano will be in this room it felt easy to tie in the wooden fireplace.

 

[RMOO]

I love that you are trying to keep the historic/original features where they make sense. In my opinion (only) not every feature is worth saving just because it was there at the building's origin or added at some "re-mudeling" that occurred along the way.

 

[Ally T]

I love that you are trying to keep the historic/original features where they make sense. In my opinion (only) not every feature is worth saving just because it was there at the building's origin or added at some "re-mudeling" that occurred along the way.

Definitely. Like the leaded windows in the stone mullion recesses. They look beautiful, but were originally made like that because it wasn't possible to make large panes of glass. The lead served a very practical purpose, but these days just isn't needed. We did have the option to have the new windows leaded, but having had the dummy window fitted without & realising how much more view there was, we felt it was more important to have the outside coming in at you as opposed to the busy lead squares. So this feature has fallen by the wayside, as we'd rather have that lovely, clear view. As also you would be surprised how much darker a room is that has heavy leaded glass!

 

[Ally T]

Here is the new dummy triple glazed aluminium window, next to an original leaded one. The difference it makes to the view outside is very stark!

 

[RMOO]

Here is the new dummy triple glazed aluminium window, next to an original leaded one. The difference it makes to the view outside is very stark!

You are right - like night and day. On the left you focus on the scenery outside; on the right, your eye stops at the leaded pane.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

@Ally T please can you remind me about the well
ive seen a few listings featured in the media latly of houses with wells
(one in Karori in wellington and in the commenst quite a surprising number of people in older homes still had them)

 

[Ally T]

@Ally T please can you remind me about the well
ive seen a few listings featured in the media latly of houses with wells
(one in Karori in wellington and in the commenst quite a surprising number of people in older homes still had them)

The well had to be filled & capped in the end, unfortunately. The brickwork had crumbled & fallen in on itself quite significantly & the water table was alarmingly close to the surface. So it will remain forever as is, under a slab of very sealed concrete under the new kitchen floor. I really wish we could have kept it with a glass top & illumination, but it would have been too costly & complicated to rebuild & make good.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

The well had to be filled & capped in the end, unfortunately. The brickwork had crumbled & fallen in on itself quite significantly & the water table was alarmingly close to the surface. So it will remain forever as is, under a slab of very sealed concrete under the new kitchen floor. I really wish we could have kept it with a glass top & illumination, but it would have been too costly & complicated to rebuild & make good.

im sure the rest of the house will make up for it

 

[QuietStorm]

I had to come out of lurkdom to say that I’ve spent the majority of my afternoon catching up on this thread. This makes my having to wait for a service tech from our internet provider much more bearable! Haha. I wish you all the luck with your future endeavors and look forward to seeing many more updates!

Sincerely, an American who will be daydreaming of English cottages even more now..

 

[Ally T]

I had to come out of lurkdom to say that I’ve spent the majority of my afternoon catching up on this thread. This makes my having to wait for a service tech from our internet provider much more bearable! Haha. I wish you all the luck with your future endeavors and look forward to seeing many more updates!

Sincerely, an American who will be daydreaming of English cottages even more now..

Thank you! That's so very kind of you & I appreciate your comments!

 

[Ally T]

And we have a boot room! It had been split into 2 areas for a (broken & not working) downstairs loo by the front door, one area with a grotty toilet & one with a grotty sink. One end of the partition was holding up the bulk head of the main staircase above. So it was a bit complicated, but the Destruction Duo (the 2 guys who've been taking out chinmeys & fireplaces) have managed to get the wall out & get a lintel in. You can see where the partition has been roughly sliced into the beautiful stone window mullion without a care in the world. It needs a bit of restoration & there's a hole in the main staircase wall, but I'm just trying not to look at that bit! It'll be put back to it's original usage & will be a lovely little space once it's been fitted with new windows, shoe storage & welly racks. Will also find an old cast iron boot scraper for by the door.

 

[RMOO]

We call them mud rooms here in the U.S. Midwest. It’s going to be a lovely space with the triple windows, and keep the rest of the house clear of floor clutter and dirt!

 

[SparklieBug]

Exciting to see the progress! Will you keep the original glass in the windows or replace them?

 

[Ally T]

Exciting to see the progress! Will you keep the original glass in the windows or replace them?

The glass all needs replacing, unfortunately. It's original to the house & very, very cold. Lots of the teeny panes have cracks in & as lovely as it is, it's not viable to keep it. The new aluminium panes in the stone windows are going in next week. There is a picture further up this thread of the template window. The aluminium frames are as narrow as they can be to support the longer, heavy panes of glass & as we need a consistent look, in these smaller openings they will look a bit frame heavy, but it is what it is. Any narrower & they wouldn't be strong enough to hold the glass during a good old English storm.

 

[SparklieBug]

The glass all needs replacing, unfortunately. It's original to the house & very, very cold. Lots of the teeny panes have cracks in & as lovely as it is, it's not viable to keep it. The new aluminium panes in the stone windows are going in next week. There is a picture further up this thread of the template window. The aluminium frames are as narrow as they can be to support the longer, heavy panes of glass & as we need a consistent look, in these smaller openings they will look a bit frame heavy, but it is what it is. Any narrower & they wouldn't be strong enough to hold the glass during a good old English storm.

What a pity that the glass isn't in good enough shape to keep, even with a thin "cover" glass behind them so that the space is airtight and warmer. I just love the look of old ripply glass. But I love warmth much more, LOL!

 

[Ally T]

What a pity that the glass isn't in good enough shape to keep, even with a thin "cover" glass behind them so that the space is airtight and warmer. I just love the look of old ripply glass. But I love warmth much more, LOL!

There was secondary glazing fitted on the inside when we bought the house, which were huge sliding glass panels. But they were extremely ugly & screwed into the brick mullions & over the windowsills. When they were removed we were stunned at how clean & bright & red the bricks were inside! They've weathered a bit on the outside & the glazing panels inside weren't the best quality, so a bit 1970's & cloudy. It was a revelation to get them off! And it will be nice to have the windowsills back as opposed to the thin slither of wood covered by bulky frame.

Trust me, anything that is viable for us to preserve & keep, we are doing our utmost to keep. But sadly some bits, Crittal lead windows included, are beyond repair & have very blistered & rusty frames to the outsides of most openings.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Any updates??? Inquiring minds must know!!

cheers--Sharon

 

[Ally T]

A quick & delicious update for you. This is the original chimney which housed cooking facilities, a fire & oven irons. It was bricked up (if I recall correctly) in the 1950's to make way for a fancy Range Oven on the other side of the room. This room will be the dining room, with the kitchen extension opening out from here. The designers thought that rather than leave this as a hunk of breast that we can't remove due to structural reasons upstairs, they wanted to cut into it, have the recess neatly plastered & then inset back lit shelving, like an illuminated ladder. This is the start of the opening up & doesn't give an idea of size - this breast is huge & imposing. It will look amazing!

 

[Ally T]

This is the doorway into the Nursery looking back down the landing, being stripped & prepared for bricking up. This will become the Master ensuite & there is a new doorway to the left of where I'm standing.

Incidentally, the open door you can see at the bottom of the landing by the main stairs, is the one used to close off the Servants side of the house. There are a couple of steps down at that point & the servants stairs are through there around to the right. Daughter 1 is moving into there & that's her bedroom door you can see at the very bottom in the sunlight. The landing recess to the left through that door is being bricked up & knocked in to make her ensuite, the bedroom to the right by the servants stairs will become guest room 2. The landing door is being removed, so although opened up & incorporated into the main house, an archway & the steps down will remain, for historical interest. We will also do the same downstairs at the doorway alongside the main staircase, that again closes away the working side of the house. It will remain as an open archway just for interest that these points were the segregation points of the 'Upstairs / Downstairs " members of the house.

 

[Ally T]

This is Mr T on the main staircase. All the bright orange walls have been stripped away, the frilly curtains down & the old-fashioned iron curtain rails removed. I love this window. I love all of the windows because of the carved wooden architraves that frame them. It makes this one literally look like a picture. The window will be fitted with safety glass & then the crudely added bannister can be removed from across the windowsill & fully open it back up. We are having beautiful Roman blinds fitted into here against the glass, so you will still see the framed window even when they're closed down.

 

[Inked]

This is amazing! What a labor of love!! Thank you for sharing, I cant wait to see more! The bible is AMAZING

 

[canuk-gal]

This is Mr T on the main staircase. All the bright orange walls have been stripped away, the frilly curtains down & the old-fashioned iron curtain rails removed. I love this window. I love all of the windows because of the carved wooden architraves that frame them. It makes this one literally look like a picture. The window will be fitted with safety glass & then the crudely added bannister can be removed from across the windowsill & fully open it back up. We are having beautiful Roman blinds fitted into here against the glass, so you will still see the framed window even when they're closed down.

This window is marvellous for all the reasons you posted and more! Quite the feature!

 

[SparklieBug]

I would want to sit in the window with a cup o' tea, and a book—or my iPad.

Thank you for the pictures, @Ally T, I love seeing the progress visually, and reading your most excellent commentary!