Barnstorming Style

There was a moment when Clare Cook thought ‘What have I done?’ as she reimagined a hop barn as a 21st century home

This is farming country. Narrow lanes wind through fields edged by hedgerow. A deer leaps out in front of my car before, just as quickly, springing away. I feel far from the madding crowd, as though I have wandered into a Thomas Hardy novel; in fact I’m not far from Jane Austen’s former home in Chawton.

The only vehicle I meet is a tractor hefting a trailer of sheep. My destination, West Barn, is hidden down a no-through way in a rural hamlet. As the name suggests, it is converted from old farm buildings – stables and a traditional weather-boarded barn which owner Clare Cook suggests is 150 years old and was once probably a hop barn.

Clare welcomes me into the double-height reception hall at the heart of the barn. This airy vaulted space has full-height windows on either side, letting in a tremendous amount of light, yet the framework of exposed beams and pair of turning oak staircases creates a warmth and cosiness despite the scale. In either direction glimpses of further rooms and different levels creates the impression of unfolding space. Clare explains: “In garden design they tell you to create vistas. I’ve taken this approach and created views through the barn.”

The house did not feel so spacious when Clare first visited. Since she was young she had always wanted to live in a barn, so when West Barn kept coming up on her property searches, she and husband Jonathan decided to view it. That was February 2012. Clare remembers that it had started snowing, making the barn and its location appear even more picturesque and peaceful. In contrast, the interior was dark and uninviting. The building had been converted in the 1980s to accommodate a multi-generational family with older parents living in the barn section and a younger family in the stable part.