NEXT generation

Zoë Henderson and her sister Susan have rebuilt a tumbledown cow barn in North Wales using the building’s rustic origins and surrounding landscape as inspiration

- Karen Darlow

HOMEOWNERS Zoë Henderson and Susan Evans

LOCATION North Wales

PROJECT Grade II-listed timber-framed barn conversion

SIZE 180m² plus 42mº garage

BUILD TIME Four years (May 2015 - April 2019)

PLOT COST £80,000

BUILD COST £410,000

VALUE £580,000

Retired farmer David Henderson is a man of few words, but when he saw his daughters' plans to rebuild and convert the barn on the farm where he'd spent his working life he really was speechless. Zoë soon realised he had fallen silent because he was so pleased that the old place was to be brought back to life again.

The barn and dairy are part of a cluster of original farm buildings, with a Grade II listing. Zoë, Susan, and their brother Harry were given the buildings by their parents when they moved away from the farm nine years ago. They kept the land, however, renting it to arable and sheep farmers, but turning the near-derelict barn into something safe, watertight, and habitable would be a formidable challenge.

"The oldest part of the timber-frame barn dates back to the 1560s. Most of its walls had been rebuilt over the centuries, but the original trusses and oak beams were still there," says Zoë. "It was the most difficult building to tackle because we found it would have to be taken down stone by stone and rebuilt, but it was also in the worst condition so we had to start there to prevent further damage.”

STAYING TRUE TO THE BUILDING'S ROOTS