Renovating period houses in Devon
We are registered near Tiverton and have renovated Devon longhouses and Victorian stone houses across the county.
West Country Renovations is registered in Devon, near Tiverton. The county’s older houses range from longhouses, where people and animals once lived under one roof, to Victorian villas built of stone brought in by the railways. Many traditional Devon walls are cob or stone laid in lime, which need lime, not cement, to stay dry.
Our work in the county
At Gogwell, we renovated a Devon longhouse as a family home, opening up the kitchen and living space, renewing the bathrooms and bedrooms, and adding a yoga studio, a 20-metre pool and new gardens.
At Holmedown, near Okehampton, an 1890 house built of stone from North Wales was falling apart. It was one of the first generation of cavity-wall houses, and its clay wall ties had sheared, so the outer leaves were pulling away. We stitched the building back together with specialist ties, then renovated the whole house and added a Victorian-style orangery. The work took nearly three years.
Our guide to lime and cement in old buildings explains why the choice of mortar matters on solid walls.
Our projects in Devon
Okehampton
Okehampton
Originally built in 1890 with stone quarried in North Wales and transported on the new railway line, Holmedown was in a desperate state. One of the first generation of houses to be built with cavity walls, the wall ties were made from clay (like bricks) but had sheared through.
Gogwell
Devon
We fully renovated a Devon longhouse to create a family home that blended traditional country cottage finishes with a bit of luxury. The total overhaul included creating an open-plan kitchen living area along with all new bathrooms and bedrooms.