Episode Information Hampshire: The Thatched Cottage

Date Published:

09/06/2008

The Project

Eight years ago Alex and Cheryl Reay left London for a new life in the New Forest. They bought a run down medieval thatched cottage and lovingly brought it back to life. Then just before Christmas, with Cheryl pregnant, disaster struck. A fault in the chimney caused a massive fire which destroyed the entire building. Overnight Alex and Cheryl had lost almost £400,000.

Whilst most people would have walked away from this, Alex and Cheryl couldn't let go of their dream. Nine months after the fire, they decided to start all over again and rebuild the cottage, bigger and better than before.

Alex and Cheryl didn't just plan to restore the cottage. They used this opportunity to make something really special, fusing traditional building methods with contemporary design. All that remains of this sixteenth century cottage is the ground floor.

The kitchen and the living room were relatively undamaged so were cleaned and restored. However the other half of the ground floor was severely burnt so here, the damaged walls were demolished and the whole space opened up to create a large, light and open dining area with a new central staircase.

The top half of the cottage was entirely rebuilt, giving Alex and Cheryl the chance to transform it. A new green oak frame was constructed on top of the existing brickwork to create the first floor and two brand new, oak frame extensions almost doubled the size of the old cottage.

At the front the traditional cottage style dormer windows were restored.

The back became a revelation. Here the oak frame was filled in with large plate glass windows giving a contemporary twist to a traditional style. By adding so much glass and leaving the oak frame exposed to ridge height, Alex and Cheryl created a very light and modern home.

Upstairs, there are three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a study and a large master suite with wet-room.

Despite the fire, Alex and Cheryl decided to restore the thatched roof over the main part of the house. The side extension close to the neighbours is roofed in slate.

Alex and Cheryl gave themselves a year to bring this house back to life, and hoped to borrow the entire build cost of two hundred thousand pounds. Alex gave up work in the music business to project manage the build and live on site, whilst Cheryl's job as a record producer meant she and baby Biba were based in London for almost the entire time.

Budget And Build

The Cost

Estimated budget: £200,000
Final budget: Approximately £250,000

Given that the fire totally destroyed Alex and Cheryl's 16th Century cottage, a budget of just £200,000 seemed a little tight. This was exacerbated by the couple's wish to build a bigger, better cottage incorporating expensive features such as a full oak frame and a pioneering thatched roof. It seems remarkable that the budget spiraled to only £250,000, and this is testament to Alex's commitment and drive to complete much of the work himself.