{"id":652830,"date":"2026-03-13T14:08:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/652830\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:08:21","slug":"forgeworks-revamps-somerset-farmhouse-with-stone-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/652830\/","title":{"rendered":"Forgeworks revamps Somerset farmhouse with stone extension"},"content":{"rendered":"

An extension built from timber, glass and limestone<\/a> unites a 19th-century farmhouse<\/a> with an adjacent barn<\/a> at this home in Somerset, overhauled by London architecture studio Forgeworks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Named House of Blue Lias after a local variety of limestone used for the project, the home is set among the Mendip Hills, which are designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.<\/p>\n

\"HouseForgeworks has overhauled a farmhouse in Somerset<\/p>\n

The homeowners tasked Forgeworks<\/a> with bringing a sense of cohesion to the site, which comprised a 19th-century stone farmhouse and a neighbouring barn that had been poorly converted and suffered from damp.<\/p>\n

Alongside the updating of this barn, the studio added a linking volume to stitch the two buildings together, creating a 25-metre-long axis around a central stone hearth.<\/p>\n

\"Low-lyingIt introduced a low-lying stone extension that links to an old barn<\/p>\n

“The site is typical of rural conversions \u2013 historic fabric, inconsistent upgrades, and no clear spatial hierarchy,” Forgeworks director Chris Hawkins told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“The challenge was to bring order without over-designing,” he added. “Rather than treating the farmhouse and barn as two separate buildings, we designed a new link structure that reoriented the entire property around a shared centre.”<\/p>\n

“It creates clarity where there was fragmentation and makes the house function as a single home,” said Hawkins.<\/p>\n

\"HouseThe design references American mid-century architecture<\/p>\n

The clients’ appreciation for American mid-century architecture informed the low-lying, horizontal form of the linking volume.<\/p>\n

This is lined with five sliding glass panels that open it out onto a swimming pool terrace.<\/p>\n

\"BlueBlue Lias stone is used throughout the project<\/p>\n

A thick wall bookending the barn end of the linking volume, a central hearth and chimney have all been finished in Blue Lias stone – the project’s namesake – that was chosen to match the palette of the original farmhouse.<\/p>\n

The stone is teamed with timber and stainless steel finishes, chosen for their tactility and durability.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"House<\/p>\n

Forgeworks uses cedar shingles to update 1960s bungalow in Bath\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

“The aim was permanence without heaviness,” Hawkins explained.<\/p>\n

“Stone grounds the building in its context, timber brings warmth and rhythm, stainless steel adds a quiet precision. Materials were chosen for their tactile quality, durability, and ability to age well.”<\/p>\n

\"HouseThe stone is teamed with timber and stainless steel finishes<\/p>\n

Within the barn itself, Forgeworks stripped the interiors back to the stone walls, introducing new insulation, solar panels and air source heat pumps.<\/p>\n

Externally, a pale rendered finish ties in the barn with the farmhouse opposite.<\/p>\n

\"BritishSliding glass panels open the home out to a swimming pool<\/p>\n

The barn now houses additional bedrooms and bathrooms as well as a playroom, study and garage for the client’s vintage cars.<\/p>\n

Forgeworks was founded by Hawkins in 2021 and is based in London and Wiltshire. Previous projects by the studio include the renovation of a 1960s bungalow in Bath<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other farmhouse renovations on Dezeen include A Place in the Country<\/a>, which Studio Ben Allen finished with a playful colour scheme, and the “hairy” Church Cottage extension by James Grayley Architecture<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography by French & Tye<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An extension built from timber, glass and limestone unites a 19th-century farmhouse with an adjacent barn at this…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":652831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[648,1032,114046,1033,6026,171,59226,136791,18518,118185,114048,92915,92916,899,3470,67,132,68,121335],"class_list":["post-652830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-british-houses","tag-design","tag-england","tag-entertainment","tag-extensions","tag-farmhouses","tag-glass","tag-limestone","tag-residential-extensions","tag-sectionall","tag-sectionarchitecture","tag-somerset","tag-uk","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wooden-architecture"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116222263808578740","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}