House of TWO HALVES

After struggling to find a new home, Rachel and Matt Partridge decided to transform their historic Cotswold stone cottage into the house of their dreams

- Rachel and Matt

HOMEOWNERS Rachel and Matt Partridge

LOCATION Nailsworth, Gloucestershire

PROJECT Renovation and extension of an 18th-century Cotswold stone cottage

SIZE 350m²

BUILD TIME Two years (2016 - 2018)

HOUSE COST £420,000

BUILD COST £700,000

VALUE circa £1.7million

WORDS Jennifer Grimble

PHOTOGRAPHY Emma Lewis and Mark Ashbee

When Matt Partridge began searching for an office near Bristol in 2004, he and his wife, Rachel, both went house hunting. They soon expanded their search to nearby Stroud and quickly spotted a Cotswold stone house that dated back to 1740. “It was out of budget, but had been on the market a while,” Rachel explains. “That afternoon we viewed it and put in an offer.”

The property, located in an AONB in the Nailsworth Valley, offered gorgeous scenery and room for expansion. “It needed work, but had great potential,” says Rachel. Ten years and two children later, they found they needed more space so decided to sell up and move. “But we couldn’t find anything we liked as much,” Rachel continues. “So we took the house off the market and approached some architects instead.”

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT