Coastal home in Devon transformed with rooflights

Katie lives in Leeds with her husband, four children and two dogs. For years they have been holidaying in Devon, drawn by their love for the great outdoors and exploring beautiful beaches. They knew they wanted to spend more time in Devon, and then they found this unique house with lots of potential and decided to take a chance. 

When they first viewed the property, it was really higgledy piggledy, they admitted. There were small rooms everywhere and nothing felt connected. So, they decided to contact an architect to draw back the dark veil from the home and bathe it in natural daylight. 

The floor plan now is unrecognisable from the old one. There are only a few original walls in the whole house that remain standing. While they didn’t extend the house, they said that it feels twice as big even though they haven’t increased the square footage - and that it’s down to the light because they’ve merged spaces and introduced lots of flat roof windows. 

The family has found that the light helps them breathe, and the natural light has brought about peace thanks to the stronger connection to the outdoors. For them, it’s a great balance because they’re not always able to be outside, so the light from above makes all the difference. 

The bespoke design was vital to the home because it enabled the family to install the three Vario by VELUX Round rooflights. This then set the tone for the whole design of the space without the family even knowing it as they also decorated the interior with three lights in the corner, and circles on the fireplace with tiling.

The light has brought joy, happiness, peace, fun and the outside in for the family. There was a moment when everything else was boarded up and they didn’t have the glass yet. It was a dark box, until the rooflights were put in, and suddenly, the feeling inside the home was amazing.

The question of where to place rooflights was a straightforward decision for the family, as they aimed to install one in every zone, and that’s exactly what they did. 

The family has a rooflight installed in every single zone but the one place that benefitted the most was the bathroom, as there wasn’t any room for façade windows, so they maximised the daylight by installing a roof window to let daylight flood in from the top. Without the rooflight, the bathroom would be in complete darkness but now they can see the sky above and be closer to nature. 

When thinking about the interior design of this project, they wanted it to be fun. Although they took their chances with the design, it was very clear from an early stage that they were completely influenced by the outside. The sea, the mountains and the colours in all of the flowers around Devon all played their part. If you took a photo of South Devon and put it here, you'd find every single colour in this room.

The family chose to have an opening rooflight in the kitchen because they wanted to enjoy fresh air without always having the big bi-fold doors open. For them, having electric rooflights in here was the best way to get fresh air in and ventilate the space while cooking. 

While Katie cooks, the family have fun as they go from zone to zone. They created four zones in the kitchen area because it was important for them to make the house accessible. One of the things they did to achieve this was make all the floors flat. There aren’t any steps anywhere – to their youngest’s delight because she loves to roller skate. The layout of the home means she can skate around completely freely.

Before the transformation, the stairs were boxed in and the roof was low which is something the family wanted to change first as this is the initial impression that sets the whole tone for the house. To do this, they raised the roof and placed a roof window at the top to bring all of the southern light from above. 

They designed the house to be enjoyed by everybody. The best thing about it for Katie is seeing everybody do their own thing in the space all together because everyone enjoys being in it. 

The family feels very lucky that the home already had a roof terrace, even though it was dilapidated, they saw the potential and gave it a refresh. They spend so much time up there now because it brings them even closer to the sunshine. 

They added anti-slip dots to the walk-on VARIO by VELUX rooflights to keep the area safe for their four children, and although they were concerned that it might affect the levels of light entering the room, their worries were soon put to rest. Katie told us that it didn’t make any difference, they still get loads of natural light while having all-important safety measures in place. People skate, bounce and jump on the terrace where the new rooflight has been installed - they haven’t any safety concerns. 

One of the biggest joys for the Katie has been seeing people's reactions when they walk into the house for the first time. From the road, she said it looks a bit like a Tardis but then you open the door, and it feels like magic. Because they’ve opened the two floors and have light flooding from the roof windows above, the home feels really special. 

The family added that it's all about the light. You can never have too much light in one room, and you shouldn’t ever forget that you can bring what’s up there inside the home. 

 

When the family first saw the rooflights it gave them goosebumps. It gave them a feeling of life. Life was being breathed into this old building that hadn't been touched for years and years. 

One of the great things about the rooflights is that you can follow the sun. Whatever time of day it is, the family can almost tell by the shadows it casts on the floor and Katie can be found moving around the room, basking wherever the sun is.