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The Convent is a Grade 1 listed folly in the woods behind the celebrated 18c garden. It was built in 1760 but by 1983, when BBL bought it, was in a state of near terminal ruin. Fragments of lead and stained glass were excavated to give us the pattern for restoring the windows, including the flies secreted in them; the roofs were re-thatched and the cyclopian masonry walls repaired. The extraordinary drawing room ceiling, built with pebbles from Chesil beach pressed into horsehair plaster, was restored. Technology was a matter of resource. Water, for example, came from a tank above the house fed by a pump powered by a water wheel we built in the woods below.

Awards: English Heritage/Sunday Times award for the most imaginative restoration of a historic building, 1991.

Clients. Christopher Bowerbank et al.
Area. House. 150m2, 3 bedrooms, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, cloakroom
Completion. 1984