19/06/2026
Planning and listed building consent granted for our contemporary extension to a 16th century stone and timber-frame thatched house at the heart of the village of Fontmell Magna, within a designated Conservation Area in North Dorset, adjacent to the Cranborne Chase AONB.
Other works include a garage conversion to contemporary home office and comprehensive internal reconfiguration, transforming the house into a more functional and connected family home whilst preserving and enhancing its considerable historic fabric.
A new kitchen and living space sits beneath a sedum roof plane wrapped in full-height ultra-slim glazing, opening the whole ground floor to the garden and brook beyond, whilst leaving the original stone rear wall legible from inside and out. Black timber cladding and structural elements are drawn directly from the external timber framing of the original building; the exposed timber roof structure of the extension answers the speak to the beams of the historic interior throughout.
Internally, a new ground floor ensuite creates an accessible bedroom option, future-proofing the house for its occupants. At first floor, a principal ensuite and dressing room are formed from a redundant bedroom, and plaster ceilings are removed to expose original timber structure. The existing garage is converted and reclad in black timber as a home office, tying the outbuilding to both the extension and the historic house beyond.
The design navigates a Grade II listed building, Conservation Area, AONB setting and dark skies policy, purposefully contemporary in character, deeply rooted in its context.
We are seeking skilled building contractors in Dorset for the build.
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