When Marjorie and Steve Buiskool bought their charming mill and adjoining stables, it seemed only logical to turn the two buildings into one spacious home. The house that Mnrjorie snd Steve Buiskool bought in Worcestershire five years ago caught their eye because of its unusual layout. Originally a black - and - white Jacobean cottage it later had a Georgian mill added on to it. while a separate Georgian stable block nearby - provided more useful space. The couple knew that with some clever planning, they could dramatically increase the footprint of their wonderful new property. At first, it was the location that attracted us." says Marjoric. The building was situated on a mill stream and its mill wheel was still in working order up to ?0 years ago. As was all the old wooden machinery, which is now in our drawing room. The property came with I з acres of open meadow, but while set deep in the countryside, :t nevertheless wasnt too far from the local village. It was when the couple put in an offer that they began to consider its real potential. We knew that we could make some significant improvements to the house, adds Steve. The trouble was. once wed started the changes, it became a bit of a runaway train. The more we did, the more we found there was to do to realise its fu!l potential. In particular, we wanted to make use of all the space in the mill tocreate large open rooms: For example, something had to be done about the second floor, which consisted of four compact bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms, all separated by 1970s stud walls. We demolished them to create a large master bedroom, dressing room and en suite, recalls Steve. We then discovered there was a fantastic vaulted roof with Georgian beams. which had been hidden by the low suspended ceilings, which we then removed." By the time the couple had completed this phase of the works, they were left with a much larger space, though now there were only two bedrooms. It was beautiful, but it didnt make much financial sense to lose two out of four rooms. explains Marjorie. So we decided to link the stable block to the main house by building a two - storey extension across the courtyard. That way we could accommodate another two bedrooms, two shower rooms, as well as a big open hall, utility room and cloakroom."