Sawmill Cottage lies totally secluded at the heart of a 250 acre estate within the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The owners have previously run the estate from rented accommodation, but has this proved to be increasingly difficult and they now wish to personally run this extensive estate, whilst living on site. The existing cottage orné style building, commissioned some 25 years ago, has therefore been remodelled and extended and an existing rundown barn converted to provide accommodation for staff involved in the maintenance of the estate.

The cottage orné first rose to prominence towards the end of the eighteenth century and particularly during the Regency through the work of John Nash. Cottage Orné designs were built amid romantic wooded scenery as simple rustic retreats from the increasing artificialities and complications of urban life. The picturesque rural location of Sawmill Cottage provided the perfect opportunity to continue in this particular tradition.

The main extension creates a new entrance front on the west side of the building, with a large open plan kitchen, dining room and informal seating area around a wood burning stove. Along the south elevation the garden has been returned to lawn and a rustic tree-trunk columned veranda introduced, presenting a picturesque vista to approaching visitors. An additional extension has been designed with a typical cottage orné characteristic in mind, of a building having been developed over a period of time. Located on the east side of the building the addition is designed to appear as a surviving fragment from an older Priory building and allows the first floor to accommodate five bedrooms. The barn conversion retains the shell of the existing building and matches its materials, allowing for a sympathetic transformation. An intrusive and unsightly metal clad barn has also been replaced by a new, traditionally constructed stone and oak boarded stable block, that incorporates the existing external stone wall.

The alterations and extensions throughout have been carefully considered to accommodate the requirements of a growing young family, whilst simultaneously sustaining and developing the existing building’s characteristics. The design is a literate continuation of the cottage orné style that will undoubtedly benefit the character and appearance of the surrounding area.