Purchase of Staunton Manor Farm Agreed

Whitecroft Developments Ltd is delighted to confirm their agreement to purchase Staunton Manor Farm and the associated agricultural buildings at Whitchurch Village, Bristol.

The acquisition will further affirm Whitecroft’s success in the niche market of character housing developments in this area.

Staunton Manor Farm and associated buildings at Whitchurch Village date back to the 17th Century.  By the 1890’s, Staunton Manor Farm was an established Plough Farm and later owned by a Dairy Farmer.  Associated buildings include a wash house, brew house and stables. 

By the 1960’s, the buildings were sold to Horseworld, which was at that time a relatively new charity looking after a small number of retired ex-working horses. 60 years later, HorseWorld's charitable equine rescue work has significantly expanded and is now centralised at their adjacent and much larger (170 acres) Keynes Farm site. All of the horses and donkeys previoulsy based at Staunton Manor Farm have now been relocated to Keynes Farm.

The properties at Staunton Manor Farm in Whitcurch Village will provide 8 unique homes. A site plan for the development will be submitted to Bath and North East Somerset Council as part of the masterplan for the wider site, this will include Bellway and Barrett’s plans for the new homes on adjacent land.

Whitecroft has recently amended their plans in direct response to concerns raised at the Public Consultation meeting held on 9th July, and has now removed their proposed additional access from Sleep Lane to serve two of the existing properties.

As a local company, experienced in dealing with local heritage, Whitecroft is fully aware of the importance and sensitivities associated with the buildings at Staunton Manor Farm. 

Whitecroft is committed to producing a high finished standard as demonstrated at Bath Hill School in Keynsham.  Conversions and restorations force a slower, more considered approach, this in turn allows the opportunity to work bespoke features and design, to consider each home on an individual basis.

The restoration at Staunton Manor Farm will ensure the buildings provide a long lasting reference to Whitchurch Village’s agricultural past.

 ‘Amongst the original buildings, we find the history of Whitchurch Village. It will be rewarding to bring these buildings into residential use.  As the pressure on Local Authorities to deliver additional housing increases, and Listed properties become more difficult to bring up to current energy performance requirements, we must ensure that buildings such as Staunton Manor Farm are retained for generations to come. Rebecca Hales, Director.

Whitecroft also have sites at Bristol Road, Keynsham and in Brislington, Bristol, both of which will complete next year.

Once relegated to the back of the house with a budget only expected to cover a basic functional suite, bathrooms are increasingly important today, second only to the kitchen in budget. Bathrooms are a key aspect of any renovation project.  Budgets are growing in response to a huge array of choice for design, materials, lighting and heating.

Most of our budgets will not stretch to an alabaster bath for around £18,000 from Lapicida http://www.lapicida.com/inspiration/idea/bathrooms/ or a freestanding shower for around £22,000 from Drummonds http://www.drummonds-uk.com/showers/all-showers/the-spittal-shower-with-200mm-rose-handset but distinctive design is reaching the high street, online retailers such as Bath Store http://www.bathstore.com/, Bath Empire http://www.bathempire.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Bath_Empire and Cheap Suites http://www.cheapsuites.co.uk/ are raising the bar and delivering a good choice of contemporary and traditional bathroom styles at low prices.

If you are looking for a middle ground and want to purchase a bathroom suite which is distinctive and well made without breaking the bank, Porcelanosa provide a great range of suites to suit most budgets http://www.porcelanosa.com/gb/ (but be warned, set out your budget before visiting the showroom because Porcelanosa can supply fabulous sanitaryware for budgets in line with Drummons' price tags).

We consistently specify, and have been happy with Porcelanosa sanitaryware and tiles, the above image is from our latest development at Bath Hill BS31 1ET, and shows one of our favourite tiles - Cubica Blanco.

We currently tend to opt for contemporary design rather than traditional.  But we always reconsider our design approach at the start of each project, because most of the sites we work on are individual and bring their own style,  usually in the form of inspirational architecture, and we need to check we are responding the new site's individual qualities.  Our design process is simple and enjoyable and one which you can replicate for your own project, we go through masses of images, exposing our self to as many ideas as possible and collecting a pile of images of designs which appeal to us, a great tool for this Houzz http://www.houzz.com/ .  Once you have your collection of images, they can be displayed and you can extract the design elements which appeal to you, make a list of these and this then becomes your ideal brief for your bathroom design.

You will need to modify your ideal design and take into account practical needs as well as a desire to create a beautiful space, make every attempt to understand the financial and practical restrictions for your project as soon as possible, this way your design can develop with practical needs in mind.  Last minute revelations will most probably compromise your design, so investigate practical issues such as current waste outlets and space restrictions as soon as possible. Find out if the walls you are working with are solid or partition as this will determine where you can hide your waste and this will impact on the flexibility of your design.

Investigate the dimensions of the items you intend to purchase, take into account the projection of basins and toilets and understand how this will be affected by any required 'boxing in'.  Where you need to box in pipes, always consider how the boxing could be worked to aid the design rather than distract from it, use boxing in to create shelves and recessed shelving where possible.

When it comes to lighting, don't forget that your bathroom is zoned according to the types of lighting which can be used, plan your lighting at the outset to make the most of accent lighting (which can be placed in recessed shelving for great effect if considered early enough).

Be aware of how your design can affect your water usage, most suppliers will now offer low capacity baths and flow restrictors to help you control the amount of water you use.  If you would like to calculate the water usage for your bathroom and other water using appliances, most suppliers will provide flow rates and water usage per cycle information, which can be entered onto online water calculators to see how you compare to water saving targets http://www.thewatercalculator.org.uk/calculator.asp

If your project can wait, we recommend spending some time getting to know the space in different lights, as light can impact hugely on design, if you are living in the property, take time to analyse how you and your family use the space and use this to inform your design.  If you can choose the time to embark on your project, research your favourite suppliers and make a note of their sale dates to get the best possible prices.

At Whitecroft, we are aim for simple and elegant bathroom interiors, the bathroom is sometimes the only place for solitary contemplation or relaxation.

Bath Hill development wins award

Bath Hill achieves a Build Quality Award from Bath & North East Somerset Council for works to a Listed Building, Whitecroft Developments Ltd now move through to the Regional Awards this summer. 

The Bath Hill Development completed in October 2013, all properties at Bath Hill, Keynsham BS31 1ET are now sold.

Once again, the town of Keynsham has provided the perfect backdrop for a conversion and new build development. With a 33 Million Pound regeneration of the High Street in Keynsham set to complete August 2014, Keynsham is a fantastic location to invest in.

Bath Hill School before the conversion

The Bath Hill development consisted of the conversion of a listed Victorian, Gothic Revival School into 7 homes, ranging from 1 to 3 bedroom properties, all self-contained with a ground and first floor. Intermediate floors were added to the original double height scissor trussed spaces. Listed Consent was obtained to replace all windows with metal ‘slim light’ double glazed sections with horizontal bars and trefoil details as envisaged by the original architects Gabriel and Hirst. The bath stone elements of the external elevations have been cleaned and repaired, the Blue Lias stone has also been repointed and repaired. Communal and private gardens have been finished with Indian Sandstone as part of a professionally designed landscape scheme.  Additional railings as required to complete the project have been installed and match the profile of the original sections of railings (which have been refurbished and are still in place).

The specification and finish was to the usual Whitecroft standard, with Porcelanosa tiles and sanitary ware, high quality carpets, oak flooring, granite work tops and integrated appliances all as standard at no additional cost. Design elements favoured by Whitecroft  in previous developments were also evident, within the conversion areas of double height voids have been used over the living areas in the larger homes, exposed roof trusses re enforce the historic fabric of the building throughout the whole conversion. Bespoke staircases have been installed in all the conversion properties with the profile inspired by the original staircase which remains in the original School Master’s house. Bath Stone window transoms and mullions, fire places and arched doorways have also been restored within the property adding to the sense of history and gothic revival design.

Completed exterior of the award-winning Bath Hill School development

The new build scheme provides a terrace of 4 properties with accommodation on 3 floors. The artisan cottages are externally finished with Pearl Grey render and Bath Stone to compliment the Blue Lias and Bath Stone on the original school building. Smooth Blue Plain tiles have been used for the roof to add interest and confirm the colour palette. The specification and standard of finish is high in the new build as with the conversion, although the specification is more contemporary with crisp clean lines and a maple wood used throughout, the cottages have a Scandinavian quality. As with the conversion, work tops are solid granite and appliances are included as standard, the carpets are a cream velvet, sanitaryware and tiles are Porcelanosa.

We are delighted to have been awarded the Local Authority Building Control Award for Build Quality Works to a Listed Building by Bath and North East Somerset.  

It has been a privilege to work on Bath Hill School and to have been entrusted with the heritage of Keynsham, to deliver quality homes at the very heart of the town. We will continue to learn from the craftsmanship and design of listed properties and use these experiences to inspire our new build designs.