Bulmer
Essex / Suffolk

SOLD

Designer: Jeffrey Wright

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This sensitive two-bedroom conversion of a 19th Century chapel by designer Jeffrey Wright sits on the edge of the lovely village of Bulmer, on the Essex / Suffolk border, with uninterrupted views of the countryside stretching out behind it.

Access from the street is through a pair of solid timber arched doors, into a porch which has been incorporated into the inside space. Through wood-framed glass doors is a single height office/studio, and then onwards into the chapel’s main living space. The main room makes the most of the chapel’s original height, and flanked by two mezzanine levels, maintains original arched windows, Velux windows in the roof and maple wood floors throughout.

Through a series of dividing partitions and beyond the main living space is the dining room, with a spiral staircase to the mezzanine. The kitchen is housed in an original pitched-roof extension at the rear of the chapel with a back door leading to the paved courtyard. The lawn garden beyond leads through a wooden gate into rolling arable fields and an impressive view.

Upstairs, the mezzanine floors are linked by a gallery-style walkway though the main space, with a bedroom at each end. Wright’s intelligent combination of original and new windows brings in lots of light and great views North-West over the fields.

Originally bought in 1987, the redundant chapel was transformed from a workshop to an architectural design studio and then later converted for residential use, a process which saw the addition of Velux skylights, completely new electrics and heating, and all the comforts needed for modern family life.

Wright has managed to conserve and adapt many of the chapel’s original features, notably the internal brickwork and external look, whilst turning it into a fully functioning family home, dividing the large single space with mezzanines and clever ¾ height partitions which allow light to permeate through the rooms and create a very manageable space.

Bulmer is a thriving village about 2 miles from Sudbury, with a good primary school and a strong sense of community. Sudbury has good access to London from a branch line station in under 1hr and 30mins. It is a delightful market town surrounded on three sides by water meadows and rolling hills and famous for its historic links with Thomas Gainsborough.

 

Please note that all areas, measurements and distances given in these particulars are approximate and rounded. The text, photographs and floor plans are for general guidance only. The Modern House has not tested any services, appliances or specific fittings — prospective purchasers are advised to inspect the property themselves. All fixtures, fittings and furniture not specifically itemised within these particulars are deemed removable by the vendor.


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