Ruth Campbell discovers how a small stone cottage with outstanding views was transformed into a substantial family home

IT was the wrap-around views of open fields, as far as the eye could see, that won Kelcey and Steve Lavens over when they first viewed the two-bedroom stone cottage with attached barn outside Harrogate. Just a short distance from the lively spa town, where they lived in a period town house with their young son Max, this was just the sort of peaceful and spacious location they wanted for their family home, now that there was another baby on the way.

Looking across the moors to the west, Little Almscliff Crag to the south and taking in John O’Gaunt and Beaver Dyke reservoirs, they were simply blown away. “On a summer’s day, it is absolutely stunning here,” says Steve, originally from London.

Eight years on, the surrounding landscape still delights them. “We always seem to host the big New Year’s Eve parties as the house can accommodate large numbers. Friends and family come here and noise is not an issue as there’s nobody nearby to complain," adds Steve.

Rose was just two weeks old when they first moved in, with plans of transforming the old cottage with a quarter-acre garden, which they bought for £460,000 into a substantial, four-bedroom family home.

In their Victorian terraced Harrogate home, they only had a small courtyard garden. “We wanted a bit more. You pay a high premium for a garden in Harrogate, where we had lived for six years. But, moving here, we’re only five minutes from the town. I wanted a project too,” says Steve.

An elderly lady, who kept her horse in the stable, had lived here for five years before them and the house had two bedrooms and a box room with a study, lounge, utility room and kitchen diner. They were keen to extend but, since they were juggling the demands of a two-year-old and a baby, civil engineer Steve and occupational psychologist Kelcey waited two years before undertaking major work. When they did start, it was full-on. “It was all hands to the pump. A couple of times we had to move out to live with the in-laws in Harrogate, for three to six months at a time, while the work was taking place.”

Steve, who worked as a construction director for a property developer, was confident he could project manage the renovation, drawing up the plans himself and overseeing all the work, which cost around £100,000. Getting planning permission in this area, just yards outside the Area of Natural Outstanding Beauty boundary, was the first major hurdle. “We were knocked back and had to go to appeal, which caused a delay of nine months. I wanted to get everything done within 18 months, but it ended up taking about four years,” he says.

They decided to tackle it in phases. “Organising the building work wasn’t a big deal to me. It was trying to live with the disruption that was difficult.”

First, they gutted the kitchen, replacing its small windows with larger solid oak casements. “The original windows were almost like portholes with very little light coming in. It looked a little like a barn," he says. "We wanted to make the most of the lovely views.”

They ripped out the old units and replaced them with solid wooden cabinets made by a local company. “When we pulled the old ones out, we found two dead birds and holes behind the units. We filled in all the holes and put a limestone floor down.” They installed granite work surfaces and a Falcon range. “We spent a lot of time on the internet, shopping around for the best price. The kitchen is a real hub now, this is where we spend most of our time,” says Steve.

A two-storey extension added a new bedroom with ensuite, a ground floor living room complete with 16-seater dining table, and French doors out to the garden. Using materials such as reclaimed stone and slate, old, stripped pine doors, solid, 19mm thick oak floorboards and rounded off wall corners helps the new extension blend well with the original rustic feel of the old cottage. “We did put carpets down throughout the house when we moved in, but they didn’t last long. Within six months they were looking tired,” says Steve.

They replaced the original staircase with a two-part solid oak one with panelling, which Steve modelled on the staircase in the nearby Pine Marten pub restaurant, and relocated it to double the size of the small box room upstairs. They also took down internal walls in the living room and Steve designed a sandstone fire surround. “It cost £4,000 to have it specially made for me, but it was worth it,” he says.

The couple installed a Vermont stove, which they found for a good price on the internet. “We get through about a dozen logs a night and it really warms the room up.” The next stage of the project involved a second, single-storey extension with a cloakroom, study and utility room.

The walls are all painted in tasteful neutral Farrow and Ball colours, with furnishings in traditional country house style. “It was down to me to come up with the fabric of the building. I left the colours and fabrics to the other half,” says Steve.

An original 1920s sofa and chairs, reupholstered in pale beige, came from Steve’s late grandmother Grace. A matching footstool, covered in the same fabric, came from Kelcey’s grandmother. On the wall is a framed collage of theatre and music concert tickets, some faded and worn. “Kelcey collected the tickets of everything we visited when we lived in London," says Steve. Their bedroom, painted a simple, fresh white has simple linen curtains.“We’re not overlooked at all and wanted to make the best of the view,” he adds.

Rose’s bedroom, complete with doll’s house and bunting, is pretty, pink and floral, where pride of place in Max’s is a makeshift battlefield for his toy soldier collection. Both rooms have some of Steve’s paintings on the walls. Another of his paintings, of a private pebble beach on the south coast, where his parents have a house, hangs in the living room. “If I had more time, I would paint,” he says.

Outside, the garden has been stocked with rabbit repellent plants and the huge, orderly log pile in the stable is pretty impressive, thanks to Max, now ten, and Rose, eight. “We pay the children five-pence a log to build up the pile. They love doing that.”

Hard work is obviously in the genes. Now that the children are a little older, Steve feels he is ready for another project. “I am a glutton for punishment,” he says.

  • Sandwith House is on the market for £725,000 with Carter Jonas T: 01423 523423
  • Oak staircase, windows and French doors by Cooper Bespoke Joinery, Blackburn – www.cooperbespokejoinery.co.uk T: 01254 693765
  • Sandstone fireplace by Feature Fireplaces, Harrogate – www.harrogatefireplacecompany.com T: 01423 875200
  • Kitchen units by Rivendell Cabinet Company – T: 01729 824449
  • Oak floorboards and skirtings from Birbek , Leeds www.birbek.com T: 0113 3200463
  • Book cases and shelf units by Main Furniture Company, Green Hammerton – www.mainfurniturecompany.com T: 01423 330451
  • Limestone floor Stone Works Ltd www.stone-worksltd.co.uk T: 01335 361111