8 | Northern Enterprise Awards 2022 Nov22657 THE TRANSFORMATION OF FARR HALL BY JOHN EVANS OF BORTRAM LUXURY HOMES Some of the most interesting elements about our work are requests for things that literally don’t exist (yet), and when we ask about budgets, often the response is literally “just give me a YES”. So, two years ago I met Dr Santiago Puig when we first started discussing property renovation. It immediately became apparent he was a man with impeccable taste and very high expectations, as you would imagine from a man in his position. He invited me for lunch to discuss a new project he was considering, the beautiful ‘Farr Hall’ in Farr Hall Drive, Lower Heswall - a period Edwardian building with a slightly newer Victorian extension which was constructed to be the ‘Ballroom’ of the main property. Dr. Puig had been offered the flat above his property and he wanted to commission us to turn both properties into a duplex, with a single request that the renovation had to look like it was never a conversion of two flats and in fact wanted it to enhance the original Edwardian and Victorian styles of the property by literally pulling down all the false ceilings and studded walls, upstairs and down and exposing as many of the original features as possible especially the high ceilings. He was also keen to make it an open plan living/ entertaining area as Dr. Puig is an enthusiastic cook, loves dinner parties and entertaining his friends. After a few more lunch meetings and many ideas back and forth, we made a plan and employed Andy Armstrong from Condy Lofthouse architects to create drawings for the planning authorities. Work started by removing ceilings, walls, floors, wiring and pipework this was a serious renovation going back to the fundamentals of the building in its entirety whilst constantly ‘listening and respecting’ the building and what it had to offer to combine/enhance original features, yet creating the modern, state of the art, lifestyle clients have come to expect from our ‘Bespoke builds’. The Coffered Ceiling was a great starting point for this project as I believe it’s a hallmark of traditional interiors which exudes class, dating back as far as the ancient Greeks and Romans, created to save the weight of the stone ceilings in that period. Dr. Puig and I agreed that back lighting them with Marine style ‘Cobb lighting’ further enhances this beautiful piece of architectural design. The story of the ‘two islands’ was inspired by the fact the one is a ‘working island’ and the other is an ‘entertaining island’, the latter encompassing the beautiful views of the Dee Estuary and on to the Welsh coastline. When we talked about chandeliers, three to be precise, in the kitchen Dr. Puig gasped and raised his eyebrows, so we did a mock up for him to visualise. This lead to two things, firstly, he fell in love with the concept as it complimented the Coffered Ceiling and secondly, rather cleverly, we hung them first thing in the morning as the sun was rising, still in the middle of a building site I might add, which reflected all the beautiful prisms of glass on to the walls in the kitchen which surprised both Dr. Puig and myself actually, and almost brought him to tears. He was instantly sold on the chandeliers! From the completely Bespoke kitchen, this leads off into a large open plan hallway which shows off the solid oak and glass staircase. This takes you directly in to the snug room which has a log burning stove, large ‘L shaped’ sofa and recessed TV. Of course, another chandelier lights your path up the stairs. Nestling in the corner of the snug are bifold doors that take you out on to a beautifully designed balcony to enjoy a cocktail whilst watching the sunset over the estuary and Welsh hills. With a commercial grade patio heater this is still enjoyable experience even with snow on the ground! From the snug up three more solid oak steps you find yourself in an ‘open plan’ hotel style main bedroom which has ‘Paddington’ the bath sitting in one of the towers enabling you to have a bath whilst enjoying the views again. Possibly one of the best requests we had from the owner was to be able to have a shower whilst still looking over to Wales through the vast windows. After a few conversations we decided on creating a ‘Bespoke to Bortram’ four-sided shower cubicle, complete with a privacy panel in the middle of the glass for discretion, which creates a 1.8m x 1m transparent cube between the bathroom and the main bedroom enabling the ‘views’ request box was ticked. Our Bortram Luxury Homes moto of always creating a ‘YES’ is of paramount importance to us when dealing with discerning clients, as they just want the result and are not always interested in how you achieve this, just as long as we do! Words by John Evans following Bortram Luxury Homes’ recognition in the Northern Enterprise with the title: Luxury Home Builder of the Year 2022 - North West. Contact on T: 0151 347 0151 or M: 07964 455209 W: blhomes.co.uk E: build@blhomes.co.uk
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