‘We were nearly ripped off £85k during our £250k renovation – was it worth it?’

A family bike ride in the green belt countryside of north Yorkshire led Maria and David Hatton to Backstone Cottage, a tumbledown eighteenth-century house with a collapsed roof perched on the fringes of its own woodland.

Seeing that it was derelict, the family hopped over the fence to take a closer look. 

“When I saw it I thought, ‘Imagine if this was our garden’,” says Maria, an interior architectural designer. “It had an acre of garden and an acre of woodland with two streams running through it. We’re an outdoorsy family and I knew my two children would love it. I had to get this house for us.”

But securing the property was not without its challenges. Because of its derelict state Maria, 43, and David, 51, needed a specialist mortgage to buy the house, and with just one week to go before their completion date, the seller attempted to up the purchase price by £85,000.

Maria refused to hand over another penny, and to her relief, the seller backed down. He honoured their original price of £815,000 and just a week later, in March 2021, the large-scale renovation began. 

It took the couple nine months and £250,000 to transform the cottage which included a new roof, a granny annex to the side, a rear extension for a new kitchen, a guest bedroom and three double rooms upstairs. The property has recently been valued at £1,200,000.

Telegraph Money asked Julia Kendell, interior designer from Kendell+Co, speaker at the Homebuilding & Renovating Show, and regular on BBC’s DIY SOS to cast her eye over Maria and David’s period cottage renovation.  

Maria’s ideas for the layout of the property, its design, choice of colours and material selection were born from a desire to celebrate the property’s history while at the same time creating a modern family home that has been future-proofed to cater for her parents’ needs in the future. 

“Everything was orientated with the garden, its surroundings, and the house’s history in mind,” she says.

Any room made for relaxation and enjoyment has been positioned at the back of the house, designed to look on to the south-facing vistas of the garden and woodland, framed by large picture windows. 

According to Maria’s research, the property dates back to 1799. At the turn of the century, a family moved in who would pass the property down through their descendants until the 1950s when it was sold to an outsider. It had been derelict for seven years when the Hattons took over. 

Maria is the founder of Hattons Creative Consultancy and has 25 years’ experience creating dream homes for other people. 

“I could see the potential in this derelict house. I do this all day every day for my clients. I wanted to be able to do this for me and my family to create our own legacy here in Backstone,” she said.

The couple did much of the renovation themselves, including fitting the kitchen, bathroom, tiling and laying underfloor heating. They called in the professionals to build the extensions, deal with the electrics, plastering and laying the floors. Having contacts in the industry and a few favours to call in also helped to stay within budget.

The kitchen

Maria and David cook for the family and entertain their friends in the rear extension, accessed internally through the original shutter doors fitted to the back of the house. 

A bespoke kitchen designed and supplied by Seamless Interiors is paired with Dekton marble counter tops. 

“The countertops, although quite expensive, are bullet proof,” Maria explains. “You can cut on them, spill turmeric or red wine on them or place a hot pan directly on the surface and they won’t mark.”

The cupboard doors are sprayed in “green smoke”, a colour used throughout the house, and finished with brushed brass handles.

“I wanted a natural, neutral and timeless colour palette that was sympathetic to the environment and the building’s heritage,” she says.

A single palette of materials and colours has been used throughout the house. Her principal materials are oak, stone, marble, slate and terrazzo stone. To keep within her budget, Maria says she has used “entry level” versions of these materials rather than premium products.

Her colour palette is brushed brass, black, green smoke and anthracite. 

By using the same palette of materials and colour throughout the house, says Julia, it removes any jarring as one moves through the home.

“The natural colours and materials are sensitive to the period and bridge the period property with the demands of a contemporary home,” she added. 

When planning spaces, she adds, it is important to understand which will be most used during different times of the day. The new kitchen and open-plan extension will be used most during the daytime and the large areas of glass and skylights maximise the experience of light and space to great effect. 

But she broke some design rules. Her induction hob was placed in front of a window, usually a no-no, so that Maria can look out onto her favourite tree while cooking. She chose not to obscure the view with an overhead extractor hood, opting for a central Bora extraction system which sits in the middle of the cooker hob instead. 

A floating LED lit shelf runs along the side of the kitchen in an area Maria calls “back of house”, home to appliances such as the coffee machine, fridge and a stain resistant Tectonite sink. 

On the floor, the couple chose Monmouth slate, a luxury vinyl tile. Where appropriate, they have kept the exposed stonework which can be seen in both their extensions and in other areas in the house. 

Julia says: “Backstone is a successful renovation and has been transformed from a crumbling wreck into a characterful, well-functioning family home.”

Her main concern for a project of this type is the cost of delivering utilities to an off-grid home.

“Anyone looking at a remote, off-grid property should find out exactly where electricity and water can be accessed and obtain a quote for bringing both to the house.”  

Julia applauds Maria’s decision to throw out the rule book when it came to the hob’s position but added: “I would have considered having a taller window with a windowsill at the same height as the work surface to allow the surface to run all the way through, providing additional space behind the hob and more light onto the work area.”

“The kitchen is lovely and the floating shelf is a perfect way to add a lower layer of soft lighting to this end of the kitchen.”

Julia says she would have positioned the sink closer to the hob to avoid walking too far with boiling pots of water to drain.

On Maria’s choice of flooring Julia said: “Luxury vinyl tiling is practical but you can lose the softness of the property by introducing manmade materials. An engineered timber floor can be more durable than you think and no more expensive. In the south-facing kitchen, the vinyl will throw up a fair amount of glare.”

The family bathroom

Another favourite room to relax in is the large family bathroom downstairs.

A freestanding double ended bath sits in front of the window with a handy wine shelf running alongside. A walk-in Crittall-style shower, marble floor tiles and brushed brass fittings complete the look.

Most of the bathroom fixtures and fittings were sourced from online shop Drench, except for the wash stand which is a piece of Maria’s own family history.

“As a baby I was changed on the dresser which now holds the sink. It’s been in the family for a long time,” she says. New handles were added and the marble cut to fit the sink. 

Julia says: “The bathroom is beautifully designed. The painted ceiling plays into the current colour drenching trend and is a great choice in this situation creating a cosy environment and softening the white of the floor and tiles.

“What a lovely idea to upcycle the basin from a piece of furniture Maria has had all her life. Having little moments like this around the home is very grounding and comforting.

“I would consider utilising the height by adding a floating shelf or vintage shelving unit to have plants up high rather than just at floor level.”

The bedroom

Upstairs, Maria and David were faced with a challenge.

Originally, the first floor was just was one big space that led into a bathroom at the back.

And with just 50 square metres to play with, the couple needed to cleverly carve up the area into three double bedrooms; a master bedroom and two rooms for their children, nine and 11.

Instead of installing an ensuite bathroom in their principal bedroom, Maria opted to add a walk-in wardrobe. 

They chose not to have any treatments on any windows so that the family can wake up when the sun rises. 

But to create more space upstairs, Julia says she would have explored the possibility of adding mezzanine floors to the children’s bedrooms to add interest and some extra play or sleepover space.

And she supports the Hattons’ decision not to have window dressings. “Scientific research has shown that having sunlight on the eyes shortly after waking can reset our circadian rhythm and promote better sleep.”  

She adds: “Having a separate walk-in wardrobe is a very practical use of space and lets the bedroom to be a tidy, calming space. It has made a real difference to vault the ceiling and allow the beams to be a feature of the space. However, I question the painting of the beams as they are strongly contrasting with the light wall colour. That said, they do look smart.”

Julia says she would consider the use of box cushions to create window seats giving Maria another lovely place to perch and enjoy her tree.

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