School Farm Barn, Hooe, East Sussex

Deceptively spacious, this four-bedroom, Grade II-listed barn conversion is minutes from the village of Hooe in East Sussex. From first glance, the house is a celebration of hung tile roofs, brindled red brick and weatherboarding. Its interiors are deceptively contemporary, however, placing modern materials between to its dark timber frame and below vaulted ceilings. Bucolic grounds of three acres surround the house and contain paddocks, swathes of lawn and a single-level one-bedroom annexe - recently and ingeniously converted from a brick-built cow shed.



The Tour



The house first appears at the end of a private driveway as a collection of low-hung tiled roofs, brindled red brick and pitch-black weatherboarding. It is only at the rear where the scale becomes fully clear.



Set beyond a smart brick wall, the house opens out into an open courtyard. From here, there are two options for access: through glazed doors into the vaulted entrance hall at the centre of the barn, or directly into the kitchen.



Throughout the house the timber frame has been stripped back and exposed, the warm tones and soft textures highlighted by a clean, minimalist colour palette.



The kitchen is the epitome of this design approach, where the skeletal framework of a trussed wall has been opened out, allowing light to flow uninterrupted from a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows in the dining area to a neighbouring seating area. A run of kitchen units traverse an exposed brick wall with a gas range cooker at its centre. The ceiling is vaulted and a cleverly placed roof light draws light deeper into the plan to illuminate the contemporary gloss-white laminate countertop. There is also a convenient utility room-cum-larder beyond the wood-fired Rayburn range cooker.



Reclaimed Canadian maple floorboards run across the entire ground floor, and glazed doors lengthen lines of sight, connecting the reception spaces to the open entrance hall. At the far end of the plan, the broad living room, punctured by brick-anchored posts, suits all seasons, with a brick-backed fireplace and two sets of French doors that open onto the garden. There is direct access from here to a vast barn, currently used as a workshop and wood-store for the biomass boiler that heats the home.



An additional reception room sits between the kitchen and living room, open to the staircase and lit by a glazed dormer. The ground floor is completed with a convenient shower room.



At the heart of the building, an open staircase splits in two to serve the two halves of the first floor. There are two bedrooms at each end. All are finished with white-washed walls and lit by conservation roof lights.



The vaulted primary bedroom is the exception in that it is lit by timber windows set within the gable end. A recently renovated en suite has been clad with sage-green tiles from Italy. A separate WC serves the other bedroom at this end. Across the landing, two further bedrooms share a bathroom. There’s extensive storage in the eaves space, accessed through one bedroom and an attic on either side of the hallway.



Occupying the old cow sheds, the one-bedroom annexe has been finished with the same pared-back materiality, combined with a minimalist colour palette to create a calm, comfortable space. There is a combined kitchen and living room and a well-proportioned bedroom. Each room has access to either the front garden and a shower room is at one end.



Outdoor Space



The unusual T-shaped plan of the barn divides the garden into a variety of spaces. To the front is a large, south-east-facing gravelled courtyard, sheltered by a brick wall that envelops the space on each side. Acers, palms, and fig trees soften the perimeter.



To the rear, a wide stretch of lawned garden is flanked by a hawthorn hedge to one side and Sussex fencing to the other. Beyond are four paddocks, totaling approximately three acres of land, served by a timber stable and yard.



The views here reach across the gently rolling valley to the Verdigris domes of The Observatory Science Centre, relocated from the smog of post-war Greenwich to the crystalline skies of Sussex in the mid 20th-century.



The Area



Hooe is the nearest village, less than half a mile away, with a village hall, farm shop and a pub. For further amenities such as a butcher, a bakery and fishmongers, Bexhill-on-Sea is a 10-minute drive from the house.



Hastings Old Town 30 minutes away by car and is home to a thriving cultural, retail and gastronomic scene. Among the finest of the town’s eateries and pubs are The Crown, The Albion and The Rock A Nore Kitchen, all of which specialise in locally sourced and seasonal cuisine, while Maggie’s Fish and Chips is a stalwart favourite. On the High Street, Judges Bakery (founded in 1826) and Penbuckles Delicatessen are perfect community food shops. The family-run Rock-a-Nore Fisheries, on the seafront, smokes local fish on-site.



St Leonards is also nearby with its hub of galleries and restaurants. The area is famous for being home to the Project 78 Gallery and the Fleet Gallery. For the culinarily inclined, there is Galleria Seafood Bar and St. Clements Restaurant.



Bexhill-on-Sea is also not far and is home to the De La Warr Pavilion, while Hastings has a pier designed by dRMM - the winner of the 2017 Stirling Prize for architecture.



The area has a plethora of renowned private and state schools, including a private school, Battle Abbey, and Claverham Secondary School.



Battle is on the mainline with regular train services from the station to London Bridge in just over an hour. Gatwick Airport is an hour and 15 minutes by train and around an hour by car.



Council Tax Band: G