Northern Soul

Replacing an old side extension and reconfiguring the layout has brought new life to this South Yorkshire home for a family of four

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After living in London and then Manchester for many years, Rebecca and Andrew McNaghten made the decision, when their first son Frank was born, to move back to the picturesque village they both grew up in, to be closer to their families.“The village is very sought after and we knew it would be a struggle to find a house we liked and that was also within our budget. So when we came across one particular house online that had huge potential we decided to buy it as a renovation and extension project,” says Rebecca.“We had previously renovated a large Victorian villa in Manchester, which was also used as a location house for TV and filming, so we already had quite a bit of experience of doing up properties.”

When the pair bought the property they began looking for architects with a renovation in mind. After meeting a few, they appointed Brightman Clarke Architects who had an impressive portfolio and were clearly on board with the McNaghtens’ own design ideas. “Rebecca and Andrew had a very strong understanding of the spaces that they wanted, but the property needed to be extended significantly to be able to achieve these requirements,” says designer Jonathan Clarke.

The brief was to enlarge the property to accommodate four double bedrooms with the principal one to include a dressing room and en suite. The other three also needed to be good-sized doubles for their growing family and to be able to host guests. Downstairs, the living space needed to be reconfigured to create a spacious open-plan scheme, with lots of light and a connection to the garden and they also wanted to create a large and welcoming entrance hallway.

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