Wells Cottage extension - West Chiltington

When the maverick have-a-go developer Reginald Fairfax Wells bought 50 acres of Sussex heathland in the 1920s and created his idealized notion of the English landscape, his pastiche cottages were greeted with local scepticism. Fifty years after his death, Wells has at last gained the recognition he deserves. The very idiosyncracies of his designs have given them enduring appeal, and nowadays the "Wells cottage" is a collectable item. Local estate agents hold waiting lists of prospective buyers from as far afield as the United States.
Our client who had bought some years ago had seen a similar conversion we had carried out with a local contractor and contacted us to discuss her plans to extend and enhance her property. The house had got a single storey projection at one end with a flat roof, and adjoining this a flat roof brick double garage. The plans drawn up were for the property to be extended at first floor, thereby loosing the flat roof, and extending the main roof, re-creating the eyebrow dormer. The garage was demolished and in its place a two storey linked extension was designed, with a feature tower, together with a small identical tower type entrance porch. The main roof was refurbished throughout with new pitch roofs to the ugly flat roof dormers, and all materials and finishes were sourced to blend in with the existing. The overall finished project in our view enhances what Reginald Wells sought to achieve when he designed the original cottage.
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