0:00:09 > 0:00:15A few years ago, I was lucky enough to be able to buy 70 acres of land just over there.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18With that land came a farmhouse,
0:00:18 > 0:00:20a semi-derelict wreck...
0:00:22 > 0:00:24..which we completely restored.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30Now we've moved on to two other buildings -
0:00:30 > 0:00:33a 200-year-old water mill
0:00:33 > 0:00:37and next to it, what used to be the miller's cottage.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Building work has been under way for 18 months.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56It's summer. The cottage is basically finished.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Designed by my son George, the trainee architect,
0:00:59 > 0:01:03he's decided to make the outside a startling traditional white,
0:01:03 > 0:01:07which should at least help any low-flying aircraft.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11It was originally an utter ruin,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15used in its latter years as a sheep-shearing shed.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18It's pretty much a complete new house.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21It looks old because it's built old,
0:01:21 > 0:01:26not as a fake, but constructed with traditional methods and materials.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29It has a slate roof covered in lime plaster.
0:01:29 > 0:01:35The windows are sash and painted wood. Even the tiny garden is walled in with hedge banks.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Inside, we've tried to respect the integrity of the site.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43This was originally a miller's house, so we want nothing too fancy.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47We've maintained rough lime plaster walls and slate floors
0:01:47 > 0:01:51with spectacularly effective, sustainable under-floor heating.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56Across the way, the mill...is not finished.
0:01:56 > 0:02:03Both buildings were supposed to be ready in time for a celebratory festival we're holding in August.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05The outside is on schedule,
0:02:05 > 0:02:10but I've just been told that a recently laid, organic, lime screed base to the floor
0:02:10 > 0:02:13will need a few months to fully harden.
0:02:13 > 0:02:19We have a few weeks, so the mill will not be finished in time for the big event
0:02:19 > 0:02:23to celebrate it being finished, though it is generally working.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26This extension is a timber-framed shed
0:02:26 > 0:02:32floated directly above the ruined remains of the old wheelhouse and encased in a shell of bronze.
0:02:32 > 0:02:38Inspiration came from a Pembrokeshire staple - corrugated iron.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41We wanted to use something very smooth
0:02:41 > 0:02:47and contrasting with the rough nature of the existing building.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51That ended up leading us in the direction of using a metal cladding
0:02:51 > 0:02:56which was something we could get very flat and a new material.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01Although there was the possibility of using something in zinc or a similar material,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05that might have been a bit dead and a bit kind of standard
0:03:05 > 0:03:09and maybe slightly too close to a kind of agricultural farm building.
0:03:09 > 0:03:15We'd get something with a bit more luxury to it, so that started me thinking about using bronze
0:03:15 > 0:03:21which goes down to a very dark, brownish tone and maybe a hint of the green coming through.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26And that felt like it would be much more of a sympathetic colour
0:03:26 > 0:03:29which would sit well in the landscape.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31It's changed colour remarkably quickly.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34I didn't think it'd go anything like that fast.
0:03:34 > 0:03:40It's different from side to side, but it'll have variegated amounts of weather in different places,
0:03:40 > 0:03:45so you can read on the surface of the building the effects of the weather.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49It's weathered in very well and its scale is perfect.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52'There was no need to make it look like a house
0:03:52 > 0:03:57'and we certainly didn't want it to look twee, rustic, cottagey or fake.
0:03:57 > 0:04:03'The mill was a hard-working, agricultural building and the brief was to match its rugged simplicity.'
0:04:03 > 0:04:05The three of us come in here...
0:04:05 > 0:04:09'But inside the extension, we need an extension of time.'
0:04:09 > 0:04:12What happens here on this front here? What is that?
0:04:12 > 0:04:16That's a good question. When we know what we're doing with this door
0:04:16 > 0:04:22and what material the door is going to be, it'll suggest what we should do with that.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24- I need a drawing for this door.- Yeah.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28- What light is up here? - Just a downlighter in the ceiling.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31Do you have a specific downlighter in mind?
0:04:32 > 0:04:36No, not right now. I'll have to specify a light.
0:04:36 > 0:04:43I notice you haven't got a notebook. Is Jill writing those down? Jill, could you make a note of that?
0:04:43 > 0:04:46- That switch, what is it? - We haven't got a decision on it.
0:04:46 > 0:04:53- The first fix is there, ready to fill in...- So we need the switch and socket cover things on there.- Yes.
0:04:53 > 0:04:59Both the mill and the cottage have had challenges of having the responsibility over it all
0:04:59 > 0:05:05and having to be able to organise things, make decisions in time for stuff, to plan ahead a bit.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10- The door hasn't been decided. Has the handle been decided?- No.
0:05:10 > 0:05:16Working out which product to use a lot of the time or what to put in somewhere and all that stuff...
0:05:16 > 0:05:22- So we need to try and get these things here decided and here as soon as possible?- Yes.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26- Don't scowl at me!- I didn't scowl. I just looked at you.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30I'm just trying to indicate without vocalising it
0:05:30 > 0:05:36the fact that the decisions on these things, unfortunately, have to come very quickly now.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38I know, but...
0:05:38 > 0:05:41You know, it's a learning process.
0:05:41 > 0:05:48I think every build project that you do is going to teach you something about some part of it.
0:05:49 > 0:05:56'The showman's wagon is the other restoration project in hand and it's a woodworking one.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00'It was designed to make a temporary use of the disused farm buildings,
0:06:00 > 0:06:04'but it's grown to take up nearly a year of intricate work
0:06:04 > 0:06:07'from carpenter Dave Yarwood and his team.
0:06:07 > 0:06:13'Dave uncovered and repaired the complicated original planking of the outer framework
0:06:13 > 0:06:17'and inside preserved and renovated the 1940s interior.'
0:06:17 > 0:06:20So we bought this some time ago.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24- Yeah.- When it was in a bit of a state.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29But it didn't seem in so much of a state until we took the old...
0:06:29 > 0:06:35- That was my fault. If we'd just done the roof up...- I think, down the road, the front would've fell off.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37- And the back would've fell out.- OK.
0:06:40 > 0:06:47Each little bit, the kitchen, the bathroom, the roof, a new end, matching it all in,
0:06:47 > 0:06:51each little bit had its own little problem associated with it.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54If we sum it up, it's taken you...
0:06:54 > 0:07:01I think we've been on it five months solid time for about four guys on the go. Quite a long time, innit?
0:07:01 > 0:07:05- It is, yeah.- I know. - And what is the damage then?
0:07:05 > 0:07:09There'll be more damage than I originally said, I should think.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13More work's been done than I originally thought.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18- I seem to remember we sat down and we set an upper limit, didn't we?- We said around 33, 5.
0:07:18 > 0:07:24If we add that together to about sort of 45,000-plus, the cost of it,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27we're talking about 60 grand, somewhere around there.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31- Yeah, I suppose you are. - Was it worth it for you?
0:07:31 > 0:07:35Yeah, a cracking thing to do. I wouldn't mind doing another one.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38- Really?- Yeah. - You've got the yen now.- Well...
0:07:38 > 0:07:42Yeah, it's been a nice thing to do because you can...
0:07:42 > 0:07:48The right people on the job and bounce ideas off one another and you can get a good result out of it.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50So, yeah, it's been good fun.
0:07:50 > 0:07:56'The wagon is intended to provide an extra bed for some of the entertainers at the festival
0:07:56 > 0:08:00'which will start...tomorrow.'
0:08:06 > 0:08:08We're at the last stages now.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10We've got Torch Theatre coming today
0:08:10 > 0:08:13to kit the place out like a film premiere.
0:08:13 > 0:08:20And we've got kids coming from The Point who are gonna do what we're doing at the moment - cleaning up.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26HE LAUGHS
0:08:26 > 0:08:28I need a new brush, please.
0:08:29 > 0:08:35'At the mill, alas, the festival is now a bit of a distraction.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40'The work can't stop, although everyone knows it won't be finished in time.'
0:08:40 > 0:08:44In this side of it, it's mostly just finishing things.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47We've got a wallpaper in here.
0:08:47 > 0:08:54There's painting to do and there's this load of stuff in the middle that's the same kind of thing.
0:08:54 > 0:09:00The bulk of the work is done now, so going a couple of weeks over on a project like this, it's not much.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04It's better that we make sure that it's done properly.
0:09:07 > 0:09:13I did intend to put people up who are coming down for our festival in the brand-new, finished mill.
0:09:13 > 0:09:19However, rather sweetly, George is planning to stay in there, in the unfinished room tonight.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24And he can ponder his creation while he tries to sleep
0:09:24 > 0:09:27amongst the bare, unpainted walls
0:09:27 > 0:09:31and the electricity wires sticking out of the plasterboard.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37'The weekend ahead includes a play, a new film, readings and lectures,
0:09:37 > 0:09:41'a traction engine and art displays in the potato barn.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44'I have no idea how many might want to come,
0:09:44 > 0:09:50'but the notion of the farm as a rural visitor attraction is at least 1,000 years old.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55'Anne Eastham tells me that these fields sit on what was once an important pilgrim route.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59'Pilgrims arrived at the nearby harbour from Ireland
0:09:59 > 0:10:03'and their journey would've taken them right past our front door.'
0:10:05 > 0:10:11- The Welsh Church, Christian Church predates the English Christian Church?- Yes, definitely.
0:10:11 > 0:10:17And St David came to Wales to establish the Christian Church?
0:10:18 > 0:10:21St David was born in Pembrokeshire.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25He was born at St Non's just outside St David's.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29And of Welsh parentage.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31And what date are we talking about?
0:10:31 > 0:10:35- We're talking about the early 5th century.- Right.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39- So, a few hundred years after the Romans had left?- Oh, yes.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42The direct road goes across to that road and comes down...
0:10:42 > 0:10:47'We're talking about a place of intense historical resonance.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51'The road runs between two elevated Iron Age forts.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55'Directly ahead of us are the fields of the farm.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00'Two pilgrimages to St David's were the equivalent of one journey to Rome.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04'And the pilgrims needed places to rest each night.'
0:11:05 > 0:11:09But how fascinating that the pilgrim route came this way
0:11:09 > 0:11:12because this is quite a narrow lane.
0:11:12 > 0:11:18- We're on by no means a main road, but this was the main road for the pilgrims.- It would've been, yes.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22'In medieval times, the resting place was called a spital or hospice
0:11:22 > 0:11:26'and one of them was situated in the hamlet next to the farm
0:11:26 > 0:11:29'and was probably one of the farm's fields.'
0:11:29 > 0:11:34So, Anne, where do you think the spital field was here?
0:11:34 > 0:11:40Well, I think, if folk memory is to be believed, that it was where the graveyard is now,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44where the farmer was giving the field to the chapel,
0:11:44 > 0:11:48but at that time, this field was labelled "Spite".
0:11:48 > 0:11:52And so he went down the pub that night and some local wag said to him,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56"Do you really think it's such a good idea
0:11:56 > 0:12:01"to give a field to a chapel that's called 'Spite'?"
0:12:01 > 0:12:07He said, "Oh, no, I've just changed the name. It's now 'Harmony'." And "Harmony" it's remained.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12'Tomorrow, modern-day pilgrims will make their way to the farm for two days of music,
0:12:12 > 0:12:15'theatre and nosing about in buildings in aid of charity.'
0:12:23 > 0:12:26# Radio Pembrokeshire! #
0:12:26 > 0:12:32'If you are looking for something to do this weekend, why not make your way to the Griff Rhys Jones Open Day?
0:12:32 > 0:12:35'This is 102.5, Radio Pembrokeshire.'
0:12:35 > 0:12:38- Ready to go then. - OK, are you guys ready?
0:12:44 > 0:12:50'And we're off. We have to get the showman's wagon out of the potato barn, so that people can see it
0:12:50 > 0:12:56'and so that the barn can be turned into our impromptu breeze block theatre and art gallery.'
0:13:05 > 0:13:10It's half three at the moment, so it kicks off in about an hour and a half or so.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Everyone's gonna start arriving.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18And the stage is still getting worked on, we're not quite fitting all of our seats in.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22- We can't quite fit the art in. - 'Paul, come in?'
0:13:22 > 0:13:26A possibility would be using one of these scaffolding towers
0:13:26 > 0:13:31and if there are any bits of wood which can be tacked on to it, you could hang pictures on that.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35That would be the easiest thing, but we have to get on with it.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41'We're raising money for the local youth drop-in centre.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43'Local youth drops in to help.'
0:13:52 > 0:13:57'I'm not sure why I even bother to try and get them to hurry up.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02'The longest queue is to see the unfinished plaster and wires sticking out of the wall.'
0:14:04 > 0:14:06FOLK MUSIC
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Yeah, to see the whole thing
0:14:25 > 0:14:29coming up from a pile of stones, basically,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32into a great cottage...
0:14:32 > 0:14:35fantastic cottage, that's been the high point for me.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40As kids, my sister and I, we used to walk down here all the time.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45I remember these buildings being this way, just exactly like this.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49That would have been in 19... early '60s probably.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53I get very nostalgic about Pembrokeshire. I grew up here.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55I come back every year because...
0:14:55 > 0:15:00I live in Los Angeles where it's constant change and it's shifting sands.
0:15:00 > 0:15:06And here, this feeling of permanence and my roots are literally in this land around here.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11It's just very reassuring to know that it can be continued.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:15:14 > 0:15:17I think it's been a success. It's been a lot of hard work.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22We've got loads of people here. They have been coming regularly all day.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26I think we came out on top and, hopefully, we make a lot of money.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32The story begins 212...
0:15:46 > 0:15:49HORN TOOTS
0:15:57 > 0:16:02The weekend raised about 11,000 for charity.
0:16:02 > 0:16:08But we still have the mill to finish. We can get back to waiting for paint to dry.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13Between the old mill building and the new bronze extension is a gap
0:16:13 > 0:16:16where the mill wheel once turned.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18It's the wheel pit.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22George has kept it open and stuck a platform over it.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26So this has all gone in. It looks fairly solid.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30There's a little bit of a wobble in the handrail at the minute.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35I think the whole thing needs to shift back about a foot and that'll sort that out.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41There's a new mezzanine level inside the mill like a big shelf,
0:16:41 > 0:16:43providing an upper sleeping area.
0:16:43 > 0:16:48It's a traditional sleeping platform known in Pembrokeshire as a crog loft.
0:16:48 > 0:16:54But George can't decide on the exact finished look, so he's going to see what other people have done.
0:16:54 > 0:17:00In here you can see that we had to replace the roof completely.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04We've kept the position, style and form of the old trusses,
0:17:04 > 0:17:09but the original ones were shot to bits, so these three trusses had to be replaced.
0:17:09 > 0:17:15You've kept the space in here really and that's working really nicely, that kind of openness.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18You get a feel for the size of the building.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25Yeah, this whole thing of the mezzanine, the platform in the space
0:17:25 > 0:17:29is something that's very salient in our mill
0:17:29 > 0:17:34because it's got this height that's just kind of enough
0:17:34 > 0:17:36to put something like that in there
0:17:36 > 0:17:39and get that bit of extra space
0:17:39 > 0:17:43and that kind of added layer of interest in the room.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47And the way they've done it, there's something quite interesting
0:17:47 > 0:17:51about this quite dramatic lean in it as well towards you
0:17:51 > 0:17:56which is something you don't really often see, I think.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01It's a very traditional approach. The ladder as well, I quite like.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03They're lovely floorboards.
0:18:03 > 0:18:09There's something really nice about an older bit of wood and the kind of character it gets.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20This project isn't only about restoring buildings.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23It's about a farm.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26We've been creating a trail alongside the stream
0:18:26 > 0:18:30to give public access to the 70 acres of countryside.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38I've just walked the entire length of our new nature walk.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42We've planted about a thousand trees
0:18:42 > 0:18:45which means in, well, 60, 70 years' time,
0:18:45 > 0:18:49we'll be able to call it "the woodland walk".
0:18:49 > 0:18:53It's not so much how much the pathway changes when we walk it,
0:18:53 > 0:18:55but it's how much we change, I think,
0:18:55 > 0:18:59as we walk the pathways through different generations.
0:18:59 > 0:19:06We can walk the same path a dozen times over the decades and feel differently on every occasion,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09but the very nature of the path may stay the same.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19Inside the mill, the floor is finally drying out.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24It's a breathable, lime-based sub-strata and now solid enough for us to continue work.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29Up in the crog loft, George has decided on a simple, spare look -
0:19:29 > 0:19:37heavy cross beams and some reclaimed oak floorboards left over from the original farmhouse restoration.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01The wooden staircase up to the crog loft is a freestanding unit -
0:20:01 > 0:20:05fiddly to design and difficult to make.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09There's no fixings, there's no screws or nails
0:20:09 > 0:20:11showing from the top of the stairs.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15What we've had to do is we've had to use a cleat system,
0:20:15 > 0:20:19so the timber is held down on to the actual carriages
0:20:19 > 0:20:25and this allows the timber to expand and contract and do its own thing without it cracking.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31Because the wall is a natural stone wall,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35we couldn't put a staircase straight to it, there'd be gaps, etcetera.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39George has kept it back about 50 mil off the wall
0:20:39 > 0:20:43to form a shadow gap, so the stairs have a groove running round the edge.
0:20:43 > 0:20:49And I believe there's gonna be some inset lighting, mood lighting that's gonna be set inside there.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55George continues to make bold colour statements.
0:20:55 > 0:21:02I didn't think it would be a good idea to use a particularly strong colour, nor to paint it white.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05It needs to be something quite neutral.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10Personally, I think it's a bit of a fallacy to think that white is a neutral ground
0:21:10 > 0:21:14because it actually is a very strong statement in itself,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17so I've decided instead to go for a grey.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22This is a lot darker than it's gonna come out because it's still wet,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26but it's just to bring it in a little bit, make it softer
0:21:26 > 0:21:31and to bring out some of the colour in the timber on the crog loft.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36There are safety issues in the crog loft because the building is a conversion.
0:21:36 > 0:21:42It's subject to stringent building regulations. The balustrade has to support a small crowd
0:21:42 > 0:21:45and has to be difficult for small feet and small heads.
0:21:45 > 0:21:51Steel mesh and timber are in keeping with the industrial nature of the building.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55At the moment, we are dredging out the wheel pit,
0:21:55 > 0:22:00but in the process, we're finding all sorts of old stuff that's been in there.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04No treasure, unfortunately. No suspicious bones.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08This is obviously a really important part of the building
0:22:08 > 0:22:12and most probably was the first part of the building to be built.
0:22:12 > 0:22:18They would have got the water supply in, dug the pit and had the leat running the water away.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23They would have had to get that right before they decided to build the mill around it.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27There are two elements to the mill floor -
0:22:27 > 0:22:32the lime screed sub-strata and the surface finish to go on top of that.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35As a final flourish, George has gone continental.
0:22:35 > 0:22:41He has specified a hand-made, traditional Italian finish called marmorino.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45It comes complete with its own Italian floor-layer.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Marmorino they used in Venice in the 16th century
0:22:48 > 0:22:54because they used the terracotta and the lime to make walls, then they started to apply on the floor,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58but on the floor they had to get a stronger material.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Lime is added with marble powders,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06so it's just marble and lime.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09Lime comes from stone, from marble,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12and when it's dry, it becomes hard
0:23:12 > 0:23:16and, in a sense, it becomes like the original stone.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24When you have too much moisture in the environment,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26marmorino absorbs this moisture
0:23:26 > 0:23:31and when the environment becomes dry, it leads the water to the environment.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36So that is nice because it balances the humidity of the house.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46In fact, George has totally embraced the hand-crafted ethos.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Even the wallpaper is hand-printed.
0:23:51 > 0:23:57It's the first time I've hung hand-printed paper and it is a completely different kettle of fish.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01It's more by eye. It's fine when you stand back and look at it,
0:24:01 > 0:24:07but if you go up close, you can see the difference in the paint thickness in some places
0:24:07 > 0:24:12and some patterns are longer than on other pieces, so it's quite hard.
0:24:12 > 0:24:17It looks OK. Just the fiddly bits round the windows and job done.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26- Let's go with this one over here. - George, it matches!
0:24:26 > 0:24:33- What, the grey of the room?- Yes, it's fantastic. You're going to be able to achieve a total greyness.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37- I hope we don't have any accountants coming to stay.- Don't worry.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41They won't be able to find each other in the room!
0:24:41 > 0:24:46Since the age of 12, George has been able to lay a patronising hand upon my shoulder
0:24:46 > 0:24:51and say, "Don't worry about it, old man," in that sort of tone.
0:24:51 > 0:24:58And so he's well used to sort of calming down his prima-donna father.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02I'm well used to putting up with his extraordinary impertinence.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Why do you have to be difficult about it?
0:25:05 > 0:25:10What's been great is I can't think of a better way of bonding together.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15And that's something which middle-aged people, elderly people like me, like.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21We like to see our children. The children don't want to see us. It's just one of the facts of life.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Whoa...
0:25:23 > 0:25:29It's like waiting for a smoke signal from the Pope, waiting to know that we have had success
0:25:29 > 0:25:33with the sofas and then the rest of the stuff can come in.
0:25:44 > 0:25:50The walls look a little blotchy because they'll need another few months to dry out properly,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52but effectively, we've finished.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07I was a doubter, but I think things like the mesh netting is a nice, modern touch.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09The knotty plywood works very well.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15It looks like an original design touch, it looks like all your own signature. It's great.
0:26:15 > 0:26:22I think the floor, even though it was the most expensive floor ever made in the history of mankind,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24from Italy is really good.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28I think the grey is quite soothing, if quite prison-like.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32I just think that the crog loft should be at this end.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36I think it actually...
0:26:36 > 0:26:40- I like to think that my point has been proved.- I'm only joking!
0:26:43 > 0:26:47Both buildings have been completed in the space of about two years.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50They were both conversions or restorations,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53rather than acts of preservation.
0:26:53 > 0:26:59Both will now have to face the onslaught of weather to come
0:26:59 > 0:27:04which will knock off some of their virginal whiteness in fairly short order,
0:27:04 > 0:27:09so they will blend more conventionally into the countryside around them.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14So not too painful then, really, in the end?
0:27:14 > 0:27:16No, I guess not.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18It took a little while.
0:27:18 > 0:27:24Yes, there were a few delays along the way, a few arguments, but I think we're all right.
0:27:24 > 0:27:30I'm glad that you seem to have gotten over your tyrannical desire to control everything.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33I haven't. I never had a tyrannical desire.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37- I just had a tyrannical desire to have the thing looking good.- Yeah.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42What was that?
0:27:59 > 0:28:03It looks great today. It always looks great.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05It always looks slightly different
0:28:05 > 0:28:11as if the whole landscape has been given a new colour wash by the season.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15What I'm looking at is a dispersed community,
0:28:15 > 0:28:21a landscape which has got these punctuation marks throughout it and they are these farmsteads.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25Some of those farmsteads no longer sustain an agricultural community
0:28:25 > 0:28:29and the buildings are in danger of losing their purpose.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32I suppose what we've tried to do
0:28:32 > 0:28:37is give a few buildings a new history,
0:28:37 > 0:28:41a new lease of life, give them another 200 years.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44And if that's what we've achieved,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47then that's something to be proud of.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk