We moved our barn six miles, then moved in
The Rag Barn looks as if it has stood in the hamlet of Leigh for hundreds of years, and indeed its rafters were first raised in the 16th Century.
However, it has only occupied its present spot since the Eighties, after it was taken apart, brick by brick and tile by tile, and moved six miles down the road to circumvent strict Green Belt planning rules.
The barn was part of a farm belonging to Ann and Tim Dumas, in Beare Green, Surrey, and had stood for 400 years.
Rebuilt: Ann and Tim Dumas took Rag Barn apart brick-by-brick to move it six miles
The pretty timbered building was used to store heavy machinery so when friends of the couple asked if they could buy it and convert it into a house they were delighted to
sell it on ‘for peanuts’.
Unfortunately, the plan threatened to go awry when the local council’s planning department refused to grant permission for the conversion.
So Ann and Tim decided to take the barn apart and move it somewhere more suitable.
They used the farm’s tractors to haul the raw materials of the building to a plot in Leigh, near Guildford, where the same council was willing for the work to go ahead.
The result – after three years’ hard work – was the Rag Barn, a pretty three-bedroom house which is now on the market for £650,000.
‘It was all done with no professional help, just family and friends,’ said Ann.
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Ann, 87, and Tim, 89, came to live in their old barn because five years after it had been
rebuilt its owners decided to relocate to the New Forest.
‘As soon as it came on the market I said we have to have it,’ says Ann. ‘The farm was getting too large.’
They paid £135,000 for their old barn in 1985.
Now the couple, who have two children, five grandchildren and four great grandchildren, have decided to move to the nearby village of Brockham.
‘I got fed up having to drive everywhere,’ says Ann.
Despite having been built without the benefit of professional advice, the Rag Barn is awash with character, with good-sized rooms and ancient beams throughout.
It is set amid farmland, but is less than ten minutes’ drive to Reigate.
On the downside, it sits just off a main road and planes from nearby Gatwick are audible. And while it reeks period charm, the UPVC windows will not be to
everyone’s taste.
Selling agent Christine Temple, of Hamptons, says there is potential to add value to the barn by converting the large attic room, currently used for storage.
‘You are close to Dorking and Reigate, really nice towns with good schools and transport links to London,’ she says.
‘Leigh is a sought-after village in the area because the countryside is so beautiful, but you can be in London in less than an hour.’
Hamptons , 01306 885466.
