Georgie & Greg’s barn conversion in Kent
An ambitious single-storey barn conversion on a family farm in Sevenoaks
Grand Designs’ Georgie and Greg Whitaker are no strangers to overcoming major challenges, having both faced serious health issues in their lifetimes. But how did the couple fair with an ambitious barn conversion on their family farm in Sevenoaks?
From health concerns to planning restrictions and financial constraints, a number of obstacles lay in their path. Georgie, an artist, and Greg, a pub landlord, met in 2011 on a sailing trip arranged by the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. The organisation was close to their hearts, since they had both been diagnosed with brain tumours earlier in life. Georgie has been receiving treatment for cancer for most of her life.
Having married in 2018, they found themselves priced out of the property market. ‘The only way to get a foothold was to build something ourselves,’ says Greg. Converting a single-storey barn, built by Georgie’s grandparents on her family farm, was the ideal solution. One of the main reasons the couple applied for Grand Designs was to raise awareness of the condition and the Trust.

The sliding timber doors and wooden cladding are original. Photo: Jefferson Smith
Limited construction experience
They weren’t deterred by the fact that Greg’s construction experience was limited to a carpentry course and some renovations undertaken at his pub. ‘I’d always dreamed of building my own house,’ he explains. ‘After recovering from a brain tumour, I felt I could do anything.’
Built 35 years ago, the barn is not old, but because it stands in a greenbelt and conservation area, the couple weren’t permitted to substantially alter the structure. They called on architect Mike Kaner from Kaner Olette to draw up some plans. ‘I liked the unusual look of the barn,’ he recalls. ‘The generous overhangs and wooden boarding gave it a slightly Swiss feel, and I worked with that rather than against it.’
His main challenge was how to get light inside without adding expanses of glass, a problem solved with a series of rooflights and unobtrusive slit-shaped windows that frame glimpses of the countryside. Inside, a steel-framed cube was designed to stand in the centre of the barn to create a second level in the big, high-ceilinged space, with a snug in the lower half and Georgie’s craft workshop above. The cube would be surrounded on three sides by bedrooms, and on the fourth would be a lofty open-plan living space.

The interior focuses on natural timber, white walls and black steelwork. Photo: Jefferson Smith
A major hurdle
Work began in early 2019, but as Greg began to dig out the concrete floor, he hit a major hurdle.
‘The timber frame had no foundations. You can get away with four inches of concrete in a barn, but not in a house,’ he explains. Instead of hiring a specialist contractor, Greg devised an ingenious steel post support so that the main frame could stay standing while the foundations were underpinned, and it didn’t cost a penny more than they had budgeted. He tackled all the subsequent setbacks in the same resourceful way.
‘I definitely have a logical, problem-solving brain,’ he says.

Greg made the kitchen light fitting from an old hay rack. Photo: Jefferson Smith