The Grange

A Georgian revival — family-ready, future-proofed, and full of soul

2022
Private Residential
Heritage
Georgian red brick mansion with slate roof surrounded by manicured gardens and mature trees under dramatic cloudy sky

A grand house with a bad history of quick fixes. We helped a young family strip it back, put things right, and make it theirs.

Brief

The original house had charm in its bones — but only just.

By the time we arrived, The Grange was clinging to its Georgian roots under layers of bad decisions: cheap laminate floors, plastic fixtures, and a general lack of love. It was damp, draughty, expensive to run, and miserable in winter. The clients — a young family with kids — saw through it all. What they wanted was a proper family home: warm, characterful, and built to last, not just survive.

Our brief was to rework the house sensitively, with a clear nod to its origins but fully upgraded for a modern lifestyle. This wasn’t about gutting it. It was about giving it its dignity back — and giving the family a house they could actually live in, entertain in, raise children in… ideally without freezing.

Location

South Derbyshire

Status

Completed

Client

Private Client

Services

Architectural Design

Planning

Project Management

Area

3,050 sqft

Aerial view of a Georgian red brick manor house with slate roof, bay windows, and manicured lawn gardens
Bright hallway with black and terracotta checkered tile floor, white walls, lantern pendants, and large Georgian windows
Garden pool with stone coping and wooden loungers beside a brick pool house with folding glass doors
Period bay window dining area with brass kitchen taps and marble island in the foreground
Navy blue kitchen with white countertops, herringbone wood flooring, and glazed display cabinets
Carpeted staircase turning beside a sash window in a softly painted hallway with patterned floor tiles
Children's playroom with built-in window seat, bookshelves, and blue accent wall with fireplace
Sunlit hallway with white paneled doors, wood floor, and a striped chair beneath a yellow patterned roman blind
Entry hall with dark wood staircase, patterned stair runner, and geometric tile floor leading to an arched corridor
Traditional living room with pale blue walls, yellow velvet sofas, and a period fireplace with brick surround

Reworking the Layout

We reinstated lost features, reopened bricked-up doorways, and restored proportions — all while introducing a layout that works for real family life. That meant a large open-plan kitchen diner with a direct connection to the playroom, a formal drawing room with its own hidden bar, a quiet study, a home gym, and a media room for movie nights that don’t spill into bedtime routines.

Upstairs? Generous bedrooms across three floors, dressing rooms, a guest annex, and enough circulation space to make it feel like the grand old home it’s meant to be. All supported by hardworking spaces — boot room, laundry, plant room, utility — tucked neatly behind the scenes.

Hand-drawn architectural floor plan sketch showing master suite, guest suites, mezzanine lounge, and rooftop garden layout
Hand-drawn architectural floor plan sketch showing master suite, guest suites, mezzanine lounge, and rooftop garden layout

The Design

Every light switch looks like it’s from 1805. It just happens to run on ethernet.

Reclaimed tiles. New sash windows. Historic detail with a 21st-century IQ.

The house may not have been listed, but we treated it like it was. Original cornices were replicated where they’d been lost. Quarry tiles found under laminate were cleaned and reinstalled — one batch now forming the lid of a concealed hydraulic floor hatch down to the wine cellar. All new work matched the old in style and quality.

Every material was chosen to feel honest and appropriate. But behind the period styling, it’s thoroughly modern: Control4 lighting, heating, security and sound, column radiators with smart valves, and networked switches that look like old brass toggles but send signals back to the central server.

Aerial view of traditional red brick English house with slate roof, landscaped gardens, and cobblestone driveway
Two-storey brick period house with white sash windows and slate roof, viewed from a landscaped lawn
Two-storey brick period house with slate roof, multiple chimneys, and climbing wisteria, seen across a large lawn
Georgian red brick mansion with slate roof, white-framed windows, curved bay extension, and manicured English garden lawn
Vaulted brick wine cellar with wooden bottle racks and stone floor lined with bottles and crates

Built for Real Life

Warmth. Comfort. Efficiency. Without compromising the look.

We fully upgraded the building’s envelope with new windows, insulation, and airtightness measures — hidden in walls, floors, and ceilings to preserve the original aesthetic. The result? A home that’s warm, quiet, and economical to run, without a single compromise on character.

Energy efficiency wasn’t tacked on — it was integrated. The Control4 system brings heating, lighting, and automation together under one digital roof. It's a traditional home with modern brains — and all without the clunky ‘tech house’ aesthetic.

  • Exposed timber floor joists and brick hearth base during renovation, with original fireplace surround exposed above
  • Stripped roof structure exposing timber rafters and battens with brick chimney stacks against a cloudy sky
  • Steel beam and timber joist floor structure spanning a narrow construction corridor between brick and block walls
  • Excavated pool foundation with steel rebar grid and timber-braced formwork beside a stone barn
  • Building interior mid-renovation with exposed steel props, timber studwork, and blockwork walls beneath open roof rafters
  • Construction site interior showing exposed steel beams, blockwork walls, timber framing, and scaffolding
  • Worker in hi-vis vest building a blockwork wall on a steel lintel during a structural renovation
  • Loft conversion in progress showing exposed roof rafters, breathable membrane, and a skylight above a stripped brick gable wall
  • Slate-tiled roof with a white-framed dormer window and brick chimney under a partly cloudy sky
Georgian red brick manor house with slate roof overlooking manicured lawn, swimming pool, and landscaped garden terrace
Garden pool with stone coping and wooden loungers beside a brick pool house with folding glass doors
Timber-framed poolside pavilion with wicker pendant lights, a wooden dining table and a brick pizza oven, opening onto an outdoor swimming pool
Stone-paved garden with rectangular swimming pool, loungers, and an oak-framed pool house beside a period brick house
Built-in sage green cabinetry with desk nook featuring botanical Roman shade and pink patterned chair
Narrow butler's pantry hallway with white paneled cabinetry and a checkerboard tile floor
Attic bathroom with fish-print wallpaper, blue wainscoting, and patterned tile floor beneath a sloped skylight ceiling
Pale blue traditional living room with a yellow tufted sofa, sash window, and antique side tables
Brick garden pavilion with oak posts and glazed doors opens onto a patio, pool, and lush planted garden
Rectangular garden swimming pool with stone coping leading to a timber-clad pool house
Elegant bedroom with terracotta walls, four-poster bed, blue velvet seating, botanical prints, and tall sash windows
Traditional bedroom with botanical wallpaper, floor-length curtains, a multi-arm pendant light and a vintage rug
Modern living room with blue L-shaped sofa, wood-burning stove, built-in dark grey shelving, and colorful kilim rug
Sage-green dining room with dark wood table, upholstered chairs, and an ornate leaf-form chandelier
Elegant bathroom with yellow freestanding tub, botanical wallpaper, wood vanity with marble top, and geometric pendant light
Client Feedback

"Chris and his team really impressed me with their service and knowledge. I feel confident that their innovative and creative ideas will create the build of dreams for my project. Thank you again to the team for their time and brilliant communication throughout the process."

Want to see more?

Explore more of our innovative and sustainable architectural projects.

Woodsend
Woodsend
Private Residential
Hilltop Farm
Hilltop Farm
Private Residential

Ready To Talk?

How it works (Because "get in touch" shouldn't feel like a leap of faith)

01. Talk One conversation to understand your project, your budget, and whether we're the right fit. No obligation. No sales pitch.

02. Design Everything built around your brief. We sketch, develop, and refine — with check-ins before anything is fixed. You stay in control without getting buried in the detail.

03. Deliver Through planning, building regs, and into construction. We handle the process. You make the decisions that matter.

Get in touch today