Shaw House and Farm were built on a chalk promontory in the North Wessex Downs in 1810. The arrangement of the family house and outbuildings around a central courtyard is typical of the Model Farms of the 19th Century. In 2017 Connolly Wellingham were appointed to lead and deliver the refurbishment of the former Calf Shed and conversion to residential accommodation. The works have sensitively repaired the barns and upgraded the fabric to create a low energy dwelling that conforms to the historic pattern of the farm’s agricultural evolution, and its setting within the wider working courtyard.

The conversion has carefully removed layers of lesser quality 20th Century alterations and conserved the original masonry walls and timber roof structure. New timber clad elevations are recessed to revive the memory of the formerly open shelter, reinstating the original dual aspect relationship with both the central courtyard to the south, and the views across the agricultural landscape to the north. Internally the domestic accommodation balances open communal space with intimate enclosure, developing from the layout of stalls around which the original plan functioned.

Construction completed in summer 2019.

Cover image - ‘Farmyard Scene’ by Winslow Homer c.1874