Wealden Times | WT211 | September 2019 | Education supplement inside

Prime Location
Phil and Sam Cornish tell us about the process they went through to convert an old
farm building on their land into sizeable self-catering holiday accommodation
Can you talk us through the original concept? An
answer that one is tempted to make is, ‘it has always
been our dream’ but principally the concept was three
fold; generate additional income, whilst at the same
time adding to our capital asset base, and to make
use of a redundant modern concrete farm building.
Why did you decide to create a holiday let? As our
children were growing up, we used many self-catering
holiday properties for weekends and longer holidays,
always thinking that one day, we would like to have a
go at doing something similar. Strange how fate presents
itself. And when we secured a lease with Chapel Down
(English Wines plc) to establish a vineyard on our small
farm, the conversion of one of the redundant farm
buildings into a self-catering property overlooking the
vines just seemed too good an opportunity to miss!
Did you have to seek planning advice before you started
and what type of planning permission was necessary?
There is current planning legislation called ‘permitted
development right’ whereby as long as certain criteria
are met, redundant farm buildings can be converted into
domestic dwellings. Ours was not quite that simple. As
the barn is in an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty) permitted development rights did not apply
to the property we had to apply for, and hopefully be
granted, full planning permission. We were also grateful
for guidance from our Local Authority by the submission
of a ‘Pre-App’ – this is where you meet a planning officer
for an informal discussion before you submit a full
planning application. Some local planning authorities
charge for this service so it’s a good idea to check first.
How did you decide where to divide up the interior
space? By using some of our own vision (we have
converted and carried out many home improvement
projects over the years), running countless ‘what if’s’
past friends and neighbours and using the skills – and
infinite patience – of a local architect and good friend
(he still is, I think!). Sam attended an interior design
evening course, which gave her inspiration for choosing
the interiors, whilst also taking advice from Kate at
Celadon Design and Interiors. Finally, on the floor of the
original building, before work started, we laid out – in
cardboard cut-outs – the exact size and shape of beds,
sofas, kitchen units and where walls might need to go
so that we could get a feel for what would fit where.
Did the build go to plan? If I said yes, I would be
misleading you – big time! When tackling a project of
this size you and the trades/builders have to be flexible,
otherwise it will end in disaster. However, our project was
very different from those featured on the Grand Designs
TV programme. I can summarise with five keys points:
1. We did not fall out with or sack our
builder, Sarahcahill Projects.
2. We did not fall out with or sack our
architect, Robinson Waters.
3. It was all completed on time.
4. Thankfully, we did not run out of money,
but budgets did over run in some areas.
5. Finally, unlike the TV show, the biggest relief of all was
that... Sam did not fall pregnant during the process!
How long did it take? We started to strip down
the roof and cladding from the old building in
109 wealdentimes.co.uk