1808    Mecklenburg House

When our clients purchased the beautiful Mecklenburg House in 2018, they saw its potential as a long-term family home — full of character but in need of thoughtful adaptation for modern living. The house’s historic charm and rich materials were a huge part of its appeal, but it lacked the generous family kitchen, connection to the garden, and additional bedrooms their growing family needed.

Working collaboratively, we developed a design that would respect the heritage of the building while transforming how it could be lived in day-to-day. The solution was a two-part extension that feels like a natural evolution of the house: a vaulted kitchen and dining room to the northwest creates a light-filled social heart, linking into a previously underused rear section that now serves as a dual-aspect sitting room. A second wing, built on the footprint of the former outbuildings, provides a generous pantry, extra bedroom, and bathroom space — all connected by a glazed link with a feature rooflight that draws natural light deep into the plan.

Every detail was designed to balance old and new. A shaded, glazed gable opens the kitchen to the garden, creating a sunny outdoor dining area, while the distinctive “jack-and-jill” chimney forms a shared focal point — with an external fireplace in the sunken seating area and an internal stove in the dining room. The material palette echoes the language of the original house: clay plain tiles wrap both roof and walls, complemented by grey brick feature walls, charred black timber fascias, and reclaimed bricks and pamments from the outbuildings — a sustainable and tactile nod to the home’s past.

The result is a sensitive and timeless transformation — one that celebrates the character of Mecklenburg House while creating flexible, family-centred spaces for years to come.