Weird but wonderful

You can make a home from almost any building you like. TV property expert Michael Holmes visits some truly unusual conversions

Stone water tower, Lymm, Cheshire

A local landmark for nearly150 years, the five-storey, 33m stone water tower ranks alongside a former nuclear bunker, an underground reservoir and even a former public lavatory as one of Britain’s most unusual conversion projects – proof that there’s no limit to what Britain’s imaginative renovators will take on and call home.

Its creator, television producer Russell Harris, used to walk his dog by the octagonal-shaped tower. So when it came on the open market in 1997, he impulsively put in a bid of £138,000.

Russell’s initial renovation budget was £75,000 – a calculation that turned out to be hopelessly wrong. “First, we thought we’d build a cottage and have the water tower in the grounds,” says Russell. “Then we considered a wrap-around extension. With help from a local architect, Julian Baker, we settled on a minimalist two-storey glass and concrete annexe, with five upper floors in the tower.”

It took eight years to bring the project to fruition, a journey that became a personal odyssey for Russell, as he waded through planning battles and more obstacles than he could ever possibly have envisaged. Happily, the result is a truly spectacular, multi-award-winning home.

Wrapped around a cosy central ‘winter’ living room at the base of the water tower is a vast split-level ground floor living space, with tall ceilings and minimal styling.

The main family bedrooms are all on the first floor of the contemporary annexe, while the fully restored tower contains the master bedroom and its spectacular mezzanine en suite bathroom.

Ascending the tower’s spiral staircase, there’s a library and study, and a guest bedroom suite. Finally, there’s the roof terrace, complete with hot tub and amazing views of the Cheshire countryside.

“At times I wished we had never bought the tower,” says Russell. “We sacrificed so much… family holidays and more, as we invested every penny. But it was all worth it in the end.”

Ellis Williams Architects, ewa.co.uk

The country church, County Fermanagh

With rising maintenance costs and shrinking congregations, many redundant churches are ripe for residential conversion. When Jimmy and Mollie Armstrong first visited 19th-century Tattykeeran church, the 55sqm chapel had a rotten roof, broken stained-glass windows and was riddled with damp and rot.

The couple bought the chapel for £30,000, and their three-year project to convert it became a labour of love, costing £1,539 per sqm. It was their architect son, Nathan, who inspired the idea of building a contemporary wing for bedroom accommodation.

He also suggested using the original chapel as a single open-plan space, housing the lounge, dining room and kitchen. This addition, together with a floating studio pod over the kitchen, enlarged the property to 260sqm.

The brick windmill, Reigate, Surrey

Once a common sight across many parts of the country, few windmills are still in existence. Those that have survived have only done so because a new use has been found for what is a redundant, but irreplaceable, piece of our agricultural heritage.

Wray Common windmill, near Reigate in Surrey, dates back to 1824 and was saved by chef and restaurateur Paul Baker and his wife Helen. They have since turned the original solid brick tower, and the adjoining granary, into an unusual six-storey home.

For Paul, who bought the windmill at auction, it was love at first sight. “It was a wreck, but there was something magical about it,” he says. As a Grade II* listed building (one grade behind cathedrals and stately homes), work on the 218sqm project took two years and was closely monitored by English Heritage. The windmill cap had to be taken away for extensive repairs.

At around £2,270 per sqm, “it cost more than double what we expected and has consumed every spare minute of our time,” says Paul. “But we’re extremely proud of what we’ve achieved.”

The tin chapel, Faversham, Kent

Artist and craftsman Nick Kenny’s home in the town of Faversham, on the Kent coast, is one of the few surviving examples of the ‘tin tabernacle’ – a pre-fabricated church sold in kit form that dates back to the late 19th century.

Long since abandoned as a chapel, Nick’s prefab, which he bought for £90,000, had seen service as a scout hut and a joinery workshop before he set about turning it into a unique home.

Renovators often find their budget spirals out of control. Yet, by using largely salvaged materials, auction bargains and DIY labour, Nick managed to keep costs down to £41,700.

The result is a truly individual 200sqm home, with the main chapel used as a workshop and the meeting hall at the back used as an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area. Bedroom accommodation can be found on a mezzanine gallery, reached via a spiral staircase.

Nick Kenny, nickkenny.net

Back