The Hill View

The Hill View: A thoughtful renewal of a rural stone cottage — where a contemporary extension brings balance, clarity, and connection.

Set within a quiet rural landscape, The Hill View project sensitively reimagines a traditional stone cottage through the addition of a refined two-storey extension. The design strengthens the home’s relationship to its surroundings while creating new connections between the existing building, its outbuildings, and the outdoor spaces that define daily life. Old and new meet with considered restraint — each supporting the presence of the other, and together shaping a home that feels more grounded, generous, and attuned to its setting.

The new extension is positioned carefully behind the primary elevation of the cottage, allowing the historic frontage to remain prominent while introducing a contemporary massing that works quietly in the background. This placement enables the extension to form a meaningful link between the main house and the existing outbuilding on the driveway, drawing these once-disparate elements into a more coherent whole. A new kitchen now anchors this connection — opening onto a private rear courtyard and becoming a point of circulation, gathering, and light. Sculpted from the volume of the extension, a contemporary chimney and larger glazed openings bring balance to the elevations, introducing rhythm and a sense of architectural clarity that enriches both the historic cottage and its modern counterpart.

Project Detail

The extension takes cues from the rural vernacular while expressing a distinctly contemporary character. The charred timber cladding provides a deep, textural contrast to the stone of the existing cottage, its natural variation echoing the outbuildings and agricultural structures found throughout the local context. A standing seam zinc roof complements this materiality with precision and durability, unifying the new form and anchoring it quietly within the landscape. The sculpted chimney creates a vertical counterpoint to the horizontal lines of the extension, while the larger-proportioned glazing invites daylight into the interior and opens controlled views toward key outdoor spaces. Through careful siting, crafted materials, and a dialogue between past and present, The Hill View becomes a home reshaped with intention — distinct yet harmonious, contemporary yet deeply rooted in its rural setting.