Whitberry, East Lothian
Private
Residential
Completed
Client
Type
Status
Whitberry captures a thoughtful balance between past and present through a sensitive renovation and expansion of a Grade B listed Georgian farmhouse in East Lothian.
Working closely alongside our clients, the project unified the home’s fragmented rear elevation and introduced light-touch interventions to the ground floor to support contemporary family life.
Process
In contrast to its charming pink frontage, the back of Whitberry House reveals a curious arrangement —a patchwork of historic and somewhat haphazard additions characterised by reddish sandstone and brickwork, each a record of the masonry techniques of their respective eras. The arbitrary nature of these successive add-ons had resulted in a difficult, cellular interior layout, requiring the family to pass through several rooms to reach the garden.
In response, a characterful extension was designed to consolidate the rear elevation and establish both a visual and physical articulation between interior and exterior. Distinctly contemporary, a fluted stone wall interrupts the chronicled facade, shifting into full-height glazing with cherry timber-framed sliding doors and a discrete glass-to-glass corner.
The extension visually stabilises the rear facade; with a horizontal, light-coloured concrete fascia tying the disjointed historic extensions together. Below, a blush-toned precast stone wall, designed by the architects, continues the narrative of masonry additions, each reflecting the materials and techniques of its time. The reddish-pink colouring of the stonework playfully references the existing East Lothian sandstone and brickwork, while its fluted form echoes the undulating pattern of the adjacent pantiled roof.
Press:
more to follow soon…
Photography: Lorenzo Zandri