Old Timber Cottage

Saving a timber cottage full of character

The Old Timber Cottage is a black weatherboarded home tucked down a quiet lane in Stevenage, full of old beams, low ceilings and genuine cottage charm. It was also worn out. The roof was tired, the rooms were dark and cramped, and years of piecemeal changes had left the building needing proper structural attention.

This was never going to be a quick refresh. We took on the whole house: structural alterations and repairs to put the building right, an extension to give the family the space they needed, and a complete interior renovation from the ground floor right up to the bedrooms in the roof.

Structure first, then every single room

We started with the bones of the building, making the structural changes needed to open up the layout and carry the new extension, and restoring the old timber frame as we went. The tired roof was replaced, the old chimney came down and the dormers were finished with crisp white trims, while the black weatherboarding ties the old cottage and the new work together.

At the back, the extension created a big open plan kitchen and dining room, with black framed sliding doors opening straight onto the garden. Out went the old pine units and tiled floor. In came a sage green shaker kitchen with a large island, walnut effect worktops, a Belfast sink with a copper tap and black pendant lights overhead, plus little stained glass windows as a nod to the cottage's past.

Everywhere else got the same care: new plaster, paint, flooring and carpets throughout, cottage style doors with black handles, spotlights in every room and a smart new shower room upstairs. Where the old beams were worth keeping we left them on show, so the bedrooms in the roof still feel like a cottage while working like a modern home.

Outside, we laid a new stone patio off the kitchen and prepared the garden for fresh lawn, so the family can step straight out from the new dining space. As with every DNR Build project, the work was managed end to end by our own team, kept tidy throughout and finished to a standard built to last.