Restoration & Extension, St Monans

This old, B listed wash house in St Monan’s sits in a picturesque position alongside a burn looking out to sea, with views of the church filling the skyline to the west. Our clients wanted to sensitively upgrade and extend the wash house, transforming it from a one bedroomed home with a guddle of rooms in to a more spacious two bedroom house with an open plan living space and study.

All the internal alterations were undertaken with the aim of conserving the building’s character as much as possible and upgrading it to make it more energy efficient. The rear extension houses two new bedrooms and was built with a prefabricated timber frame and the roof was replaced using handmade clay pantiles which are a common vernacular feature in the East Neuk. The use of an insulated polymer render to the external walls allowed us to expose one of the original sandstone walls in the living space adding to the character of the cottage. A large window in the kitchen floods the space with natural light and provides secluded views across the brae to the church.