Project:
Extensive restoration and repair of a Grade I Listed Jacobean Country House
including construction of a new swimming pool and pavilion
Architect: Donald Insall Associates
Restoring somewhere as beautiful as this Country House in the Wylye valley was a particular responsibility for Mouldings. It belongs principally to the period around 1600 which produced some of England’s most beautiful country houses. It was built for John Topp, a merchant tailor from London, who had done well out of the wool boom.
The silvery facades are striped with bands of knapped flint, alternating with ashlar. There was another campaign of work around 1800: the owner John Bennet MP designed and built the stables; then Benjamin Ferrey added a coach house and water tower in 1877-82.
“Restoring a country house can be an emotional experience for any owner, most of whom are doing it for the first time. It is easy to focus on three things that went wrong and ignore the three hundred things that seamlessly went to plan. There will be unexpected delays and unplanned costs. They can be easily laid to rest if you have no regrets about the quality of the end result. The Mouldings team have all the rare skills required for a Listed building project like this but most importantly they all take a real pride in getting it right. Their experience of similar projects is invaluable as they calmly steer the client through the process.’’
NICK JENKINS, STOCKTON HOUSE
“I’ve worked for Mouldings for over 15 years and have been incredibly lucky to work on so many interesting projects. This Country House project provided all the usual challenges of managing numerous trades on an old and fragile building. Every element of repair had to be agreed with the Conservation Officer. The coordination of all the pipes and wires that had to be threaded very carefully within the building was particularly complicated. The greatest satisfaction of all is to see the end result as a working family home, bristling with modern technology that looks completely untouched, but in the knowledge that it has been restored for the next 100 years or so.’’
The complexity of the roof in the Jacobean building required very specialist joinery skills when replacing, since it comprises a complex mixture of clay plain tiles, natural slate, lead with multiple valleys, parapet details and natural stone ridge tiles.
A large part of the project involved stripping out the asbestos, requiring the removal of the historic floors that had to be book matched to ensure they were re-laid in the original configuration to preserve the sequence and the appearance of never having been disturbed.
Facade fine flint banding was very carefully restored and conserved. It was an interesting point to note that carved stone roundels were discovered in the facade were traced to the Norman Cathedral at Old Sarum, some 15 miles to the East. Working with the architect Donald Insall, Mouldings were tasked with ensuring that the house was completely overhauled for its new owner, without disturbing a jot of the fragile harmony accumulated over the years.
OTHER PROJECTS
One of two builders listed in the 2023 Country Life Top 100 for the 8th consecutive year.