External elevation images for information

Here we have some external elevation photos as background, all taken before summer 2015.

West side elevation, alongside the lane to the caravan pitches 

The stone barn added on the end is the 'down house' and was linked through with doorways to join the farmhouse as some point

Eaves detail, gutters brackets and slate drip course at high level

Front elevation, main entrance to the south

East elevation, the rear and this is the worse condition. 

Closer view of rear walls, note patches in cement and casement windows

Circa 1960's lean to extension

West gable wall, note the old windows now blocked up 

Lake view just down the track from the farmhouse

Down by the lake, tree roots exposed.

Side west door, note the blue color, faded but used throughout the building and site

Initial works summer-autumn 2015

We were working towards a refurbishment and liaising with planners, historic building surveyors, archaeologists, curator and conservators and whilst all this background research and discussions are going on we realise that we will not get the works complete before the end of the year in fact it is unlikely to start until 2016 and so we need to get some external repairs carried out to make the shell wind and water tight.
This meant working up a pre-refurbishment external repairs work list and getting a local contractor involved to carry this out before winter. The works generally involved the repair of the lime render to the east rear gable and roof and chimney repairs as there was water getting in following rainfall to the east and north roofs.

House martins making nests on the west wall, luckily this did not impact on the works (as working on east elevation), but could have done, so be prepared for nature to call.

As this involves lime work the works needed to be done before the cold winter weather and so were planed to start in summer once we had negotiated with a local contractor who had experience of lime work of this nature.
SCC Ltd of Windermere were instructed and commenced with scaffold and protection works. We looked at the chimneys and also the lime detail so that we could try and copy the render finish. Once we had scaffold up and started to look more closely this was harder than first thought as there were a number of repairs, patches and the render varied all over the building. The eastern gable being particularly poor, whilst most of the other render was acceptable, except for a section to the top of the gable to the west elevation. We also took the opportunity to re-point and render the chimneys and sort the pots, flue liners and top rolls whilst we had scaffold access to the roof. 

Rear east elevation, being in the worse condition

Chimney stack cracked render

Old oak window with leaded lights in attic east elevation, protected by slate externally then render.

Leaded pane in oak window

Close up of leaded glass

Hidden window found during repairs, recorded and left in place.

Generally the window lintels were good, but there was one to the rear first floor which needed replacing and some stone work repaired. Also whilst re-pointing and repairing old render we discovered an older leaded window, so this was recorded and details sent to update the VBS (vernacular building survey). 
One of the issues with the render and trying to match the finish was that the stones appeared to be pebbles, possibly from Coniston water and these varied in size, we were not going to take lake pebbles and so finished using a slightly larger aggregate and brushing up to bring out the finish.
Here are a few photos to show elements of the house;

West side door, note repairs at bottom due to a step down into the house! 

Official front elevation, south side, general sash windows, except front left being a quite large wide sash, good daylight.

Attic chimney breast, note the timbers half way up being part of the old fire hood.

Slate porch roof, a bat was recorded to be roosting in the crack between the wall render and slate roof

South west chimney refurbished in NHL lime render with a new flue liner and pot 

South east chimney refurbished with slates reinstated

Rear view with scaffold and sheet protection for lime work

Proposed building plans

To give a little more background once the revised historic building survey was undertaken it was realised that the importance of the property was that it was one whole example of a yeoman's farmhouse and as such should be left as one. 

The next stage was to work up plans to maintain the historic character but allow the use of modern facilities and services, see proposed layout plans below;

Note a new kitchen is being put into an existing living room, with a partition to protect the bed cupbaord. 

The first floor is to get a new bathroom within the middle bedroom and a shower room where the old bath was.

These plans were issued to the Lake District National Park Authority for listed building consent (LBC). As it happens they do not currently have a dedicated conservation officer so each application is reviewed by the local planning officer.

As part of the LBC a bat survey is required to show that the works will not impact on the wildlife habitat and so we commissioned a bat survey at the start of the season by a local wildlife and bat expert, Gail Armstrong (aka 'The Bat Lady'). The survey showed that there were bats in the area but only one roosting in an area of the building not being worked on and there was plenty of alternative areas for bats, other buildings, shelters and trees for habitat. This report then goes not just with the LBC but also to any contractors who may work in the area for reference.

There is also a walk in attic with stairs, but the 2nd floor attic area is not allowed to be habitable space as the fire exit route would need too much work to fire protect and thus would be too intrusive on the historic aspects and so the attic would just be left as storage and service space. (It would probably have been too much work to make the attic habitable and insulate efficiently).

Existing building plans

As part of the feasibility stage and in order to collect information, a measured building survey was undertaken and plans were drawn up on CAD, see the existing plans below;

Note the bed cupboard which is of historic significance

Lots of bedrooms but only one bathroom

There are a few things to note, first in general terms the plans do not indicate any history in detail, but there is a bed cupboard indicated which should be a trigger for further conservation and historic research. As there are very few left in Cumbria and none that we know of in this condition (more photos to follow):

Bed cupboard, the bed base rails to the right hand side still has evidence of the hemp ropes used to support a mattress and the oak corner posts are still in place..

Another aspect spotted during initial appraisal was that there are two staircases and as a consequence it looked likely that the farmhouse could be split up into two smaller cottages subject to further feasibility investigations and planning.

Consequently as the project moved from gate 1 concept into gate 2 delivery a more in depth historic building survey was undertaken with a view to consider the impact assessment of any proposed works. This conservation investigation was managed by the National Trust archaeologist, Jamie Lund with assistance from the curator Harvey Wilkinson and survey report by Stephen Haigh (a buildings archaeologist).

Here is an extract, from a summary of the buildings development;

The present south wing was built around the end of the 16th century as a threebay
house of two and a half storeys, the ground floor comprising a firehouse at
the west end, with unheated parlour to the east. Shortly afterwards the house
was extended to the north by a wing of two bays, with the room in the north end
of the wing (the present kitchen) being heated, and therefore perhaps replacing
the original firehouse in the south wing (which may then have become used
more as a parlour). 

The fact that both wings have upper cruck trusses of the same form suggests either that the south wing was re-roofed when the north wing was added, or that both were built within a relatively short space of time; in either case, both wings are likely to have been completed by the early 17th century. 

At a later date, perhaps in the 17th or 18th century, another heated kitchen or down-house was added at the end of the north wing, and in the 19th century a lean-to pantry was added on the east side of the building in the angle between the two wings. Also in the 19th century, all the windows in the front of the south wing, and most of those in the north wing, were enlarged and given new, milled sandstone sills.

Further survey reinforces the already acknowledged view that Hoathwaite
Farmhouse is of very high architectural and historic interest, because of its early
date (c.1600), and the numerous and widespread early and distinctive fixtures
and fittings, particularly the joinery.

The house clearly belongs to the early post-medieval “yeoman” or “statesman” farmhouses
of Cumbria, a distinctive group whose architectural value has been appreciated
for a considerable time, but Hoathwaite is notable among them for the larger
than average size, the richness and extent of its decoration, and the persistence
of its legibility: although some of the finer details of the building’s development
are not understood in their entirety, the house still appears to the observer as
having its 17th century components very much evident, in terms not only of plan
form, but also with regard to the extensive fixtures and fittings. Post-17th century
changes have of course been carried out and later materials introduced,
particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries, but for the most part these have
respected and been superimposed on earlier fabric, rather than replacing or
destroying it, so one’s experience in much of the building is still essentially of a 17th century interior.

The farmhouse’s significance demands that conservation must lie at the heart of
and underpin its future management. Almost all parts of the building contain
historic fabric, fixtures and fittings which contribute to the building’s significance, and their importance and extent place considerable constraint on the scope for interior change. It is of course not only the presence of individual items which must be considered in formulating
proposals, but their collective presence within a house which is still very much
17th century in character, and the legibility of the historic interior noted above must be at the forefront when considering change.

The house is suffering from some rainwater ingress through the roof or chimney
stack at the east end of the south wing, and the external limewash is also in
need of attention in many areas, so urgent repairs are essential to address these.

Rear elevation (east) showing lime render in need of attention.

So whilst considering and preparing for a refurbishment project within a grade 2* listed building, including a listed building consent and a bat survey, it was planned o undertake essential maintenance works before winter 2015 in order to make the building wind and watertight. These initial external works were started in the summer of 2015 with the aim that the lime works be complete before the cold winter weather.

Whilst the scaffold was up we also took the decision to get the chimney flues lined for future stoves as the roofing works could be carried out at the same time.