We’ve just taken possession of what promises to be an exciting new project near Smarden. We’ve done some repairs to the existing buildings, and are waiting for the previous owners to finish clearing out their goods – including the livestock! Does anyone want a pig?

After a short break, we’re back in the saddle! We’re looking at a few new projects currently, and we’ve got some fabulous homes on the market at the moment – see our main page for details!

We’ve had some delays on this project, but the end is within reach. The carpets are coming next week, the final clean is booked, and the turf is being laid as I write. I don’t mind the time over-runs most of the time – in a complex project on an old building, things are bound to come up, and it’s always worth taking the time to put them right. Supply & install issues are more frustrating, but again, I’d rather make sure the final result is something we can be really proud of – and we really are. These old barns, with their lovely herringbone brickwork and their lightwells made from old Kilner jars, always had the potential to make stunning homes, but a lot of thought, planning and effort was required to make sure they retained their character. It’s fab to see it all paying off as we come into the final few days :-)

PS – we’re waiting for them to be 100% finished before putting them on the market, but if you want a sneak preview, then do get in touch

What a transformation! The final kitchen has gone in to our barns at Headcorn, and it looks amazing. With the new glass doors (as well as a lot of work by the landscape gardeners), we can now have our tea break looking across the newly-tilled fields to the ruined oast beyond. With the sun burning through the mist this morning, it looked breathtaking. Inside, the beautiful oak-and-glass staircase is currently carefully wrapped in protective cardboard so we can get the bathrooms up without damage, but when it is revealed it looks stunning.
We’re still a couple of weeks away from full completion, but it won’t be long now.

Being a small, family-run business has many perks, but getting invited to work-related social events isn’t often one of them! It was therefore a particular pleasure to spend the day with our friends from JenCo Electrical at Brands Hatch today, watching the final of the British Touring Car Championships. We’ve worked with Andy and his team for years, and they embody exactly the ethos that Raspberry Homes strives for: great workmanship, complete reliability, and total honesty. It’s not easy to find the right people to work with, so when we do find them we try to build relationships which last. Taking some time to socialise outside the hard-graft environment of our work sites is a great way to do that.

We’ve got a really strong team of tradespeople here at Raspberry Homes, who return to our jobs time after time. It’s one of the things we really value as a company. We can completely rely on our craftsmen to work to the high levels we make routine on our projects; conversely, they can rely on us to give them the quality materials and support they need to do their jobs at the highest standards, never pressurising them to cut corners, and that’s why they keep coming back to our sites. It costs us a little more to work like that, but we can’t imagine doing it any other way.
Consequently, it’s not often that we have new people on site – we’ll occasionally have people in for specialist or unusual works, but for the bread-and-butter trades it’s our trusted faces that are around. This month, we’ve had a new team in fitting some heritage Crittal-replacement windows for us. We don’t usually use aluminium windows – most of our projects require timber – which is why we got some specialists involved. It’s been a challenge, but they’re getting to grips with the Raspberry Homes approach and the final appearance is going to be amazing!

The conversion of our beautiful barns is going full-steam ahead. First fix is all but finished, the tackers are busy filling walls with insulation, and I’m writing this while waiting for delivery of the bathroom suites. Shopping for bathrooms for a build like this is always one of the fun parts of the job. The spaces in barns are often quirky, and finding innovative ways to use them always leads to lively discussions between the designer and the plumber! Vaulted sloping ceilings in the master bathroom here inspired a free-standing roll-top bath with a hanging traditional circular curtain rail enveloping it, and modern floor-standing taps to set it off. I can’t wait to see it finished!

One of the best bits about working on a rural project like this is the variety of wildlife you interact with – particularly in old barns like our lovely conversions in Headcorn. The blackbirds nesting in the roof have already successfully raised one brood, and are noisily feeding their second batch of chicks; our swallow pair are swooping in & out through one of the old windows up to their mud-house tucked against one of the ceiling joists; and all manner of amphibians are noisily impressing their mates in the ponds. We’ll wait for all the young ones to fledge before closing up the openings they’re using – we can work around them for now. Enjoy the summer, everyone!

We finally poured the floors at the end of May, and have started putting the internal walls in place. It’s now that you can really see how these former agricultural buildings will work as modern family homes – how the light pours in, the sightlines over the open countryside, where the cosy wood fires will burn. We’ve also had a long think about the gardens, and will start to chivvy the existing planting into shape and prepare for the new turf, flower beds and pathways. It seems like ages away, but some preparation now will definitely pay dividends later!

Our beautiful barns in Headcorn are really starting to look lovely. We’ve done a lot of tidying up – replacing tired timbers, repointing, new weatherboarding – as well as the more serious structural stuff (new foundations, rebuilding brickwork, steelworks) – and it really shows. We brought the scaffolding down this month, and the change is remarkable. There’s still a long way to go, but it’s clear that these will be something special, nestled in a quiet lane in the countrysides. The plan for this month is to finish putting the internal drainage in and then insulate and screed the floors. By the end of May we’ll be working on the internals, and they will really be starting to take shape. Watch this space!