Timeless Stone and Modern Precision: Prest Vale Architects Revitalises a Grade II-Listed Cotswolds Rectory

Main Facts

London-based architecture practice Prest Vale Architects has successfully completed a comprehensive restoration, extension, and masterplanning project for a 17th-century Grade II-listed rectory located in Oxfordshire, near the historic Blenheim Estate in the Cotswolds. The ambitious architectural intervention bridges centuries of vernacular design, uniting the primary heritage home with a mid-18th-century stone barn through a nuanced dialogue of old and new.

The core of the commission required Prest Vale Architects to expand the main rectory, transform the adjacent historic stone barn into a self-contained guest annexe, and radically reshape the surrounding topography to reconnect the domestic spaces with the sweeping Oxfordshire landscape.

The primary architectural gesture is a new pale stone volume that seamlessly continues the rectory’s existing gabled roofline. Crowned with a playful, sculptural sundial, this new addition houses a state-of-the-art kitchen, an expanded family dining area, a discrete rear entrance, a service store, and a projecting southern study. This study features an expansive sit-in window that plunges occupants directly into newly sculpted garden planting.

To achieve a cohesive material palette, the architects combined locally quarried Cotswold stone—matching the historic fabric of the original structures—with crisp white Portland stone used for select fenestration and the new gable end. This subtle contrast clearly delineates the extension as a contemporary addition to a 300-year architectural timeline.

Outside, the project involved landscape architecture by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan. The landscape design tackled a steep, intrusive bank that had historically blocked daylight and ruined southern views from the rectory’s main windows. By flattening the topography and introducing a traditional ha-ha (a sunk fence), the design establishes a clean, unbroken visual boundary between the formal gardens and the grazing fields beyond.

The ensemble is further rounded out by the transformation of the 18th-century barn into an expansive double-height living, kitchen, and dining space. Beneath an exposed Douglas fir roof structure, a mezzanine balcony overlooks the main volume. Both the main house and the newly converted barn share access to a newly installed swimming pool, flanked by a limestone terrace and a modest oak poolhouse.

Chronology: Evolution of an Architectural Ensemble

To understand the weight of Prest Vale Architects’ intervention, one must examine the timeline of the site, which spans over three centuries of incremental rural development.

• 17th Century: The original rectory is constructed in the rolling hills of Oxfordshire, showcasing traditional vernacular Cotswold architecture defined by thick masonry, small-paned windows, and a steep gabled roofline. Over subsequent decades, the southern facade develops a distinct character, anchored by a row of three gables featuring a belfry window, a chimney, and a weathervane.
• Mid-18th Century: A secondary stone barn is constructed adjacent to the rectory, establishing an agrarian courtyard dynamic that would define the farmstead layout for generations.
• Late 20th to Early 21st Century: The buildings suffer from piecemeal alterations and problematic landscaping. A steep, banked garden installed on the southern side of the rectory gradually chokes off sunlight, obstructs ground-floor sightlines, and isolates the main house from the surrounding natural topography. The agricultural barn falls into underuse.
• Appointment of Prest Vale Architects: Tasked with harmonising the historic estate, the London studio initiates a comprehensive design phase focused on landscape integration, heritage sensitivity, and contemporary spatial flow.
• Landscape Intervention (Todd Longstaffe-Gowan): Heavy earthworks commence to regrade the southern gardens. The restrictive soil bank is excavated and flattened, and a traditional ha-ha is installed to merge the formal curtilage seamlessly with the agrarian landscape.
• Structural Construction & Barn Conversion: The new gabled extension is constructed using a hybrid palette of local Cotswold stone and crisp Portland stone. Concurrently, the 18th-century barn is gutted and structurally reinforced, revealing its historic stone walls while accommodating a striking new Douglas fir roof frame and mezzanine.
• Completion: The final touches—including the installation of the rooftop sundial, the rear swimming pool, the oak poolhouse, and interior joinery—bring the historic estate into its next chapter of habitation.

Supporting Data & Technical Specifications

• Project Name: The Rectory Extension and Barn Conversion
• Location: Oxfordshire, Cotswolds (near Blenheim Estate), United Kingdom
• Architectural Practice: Prest Vale Architects (Co-founders: Richard Prest and Michael Vale)
• Landscape Architect: Todd Longstaffe-Gowan
• Photographer: David Valinsky
• Heritage Status: Grade II-listed building (Primary Rectory); curtilage-listed agricultural barn.
• Key Materials: Locally quarried Cotswold stone, white Portland stone, exposed structural Douglas fir, traditional oak joinery.
• Key Amenities: Main rectory kitchen and dining expansion, projecting study with sit-in window, 18th-century barn guest annexe with mezzanine, outdoor swimming pool, stone sun terrace, oak poolhouse, and a newly integrated ha-ha.
• Regional Context: Part of a broader architectural renaissance in the Cotswolds, aligning with recent high-profile residential projects by firms such as Michaelis Boyd (Leaf House) and DeDraft (Ayn3).

Official Responses & Design Philosophy

The success of the project hinges on a delicate balance between rigorous conservation principles and confident, contemporary design. Speaking with Dezeen, the co-founders of Prest Vale Architects elaborated on the philosophical foundations of their intervention.

"The starting point was really about reconnecting the house with its landscape, while introducing a new gable that feels like a natural next chapter within the existing ensemble of buildings," explained studio co-founder Richard Prest.

Prest emphasised that the architectural form was entirely dictated by the site’s topography and historical silhouette.

"This also enabled us to rethink the relationship between the house and the landscape, so we embedded the extension into the topography and used changes in level to bring the planting up to the windows," he added.

Addressing the historical evolution of the property, co-founder Michael Vale highlighted the studio’s desire to respect the timeline carved out over 300 years of habitation.

"The existing silhouette has evolved over 300 years, so we wanted the extension to add to that evolution," Vale told Dezeen. "The new gable offers continuity in the building’s story, while the sculptural sundial above it offers a playful nod to its south-facing perspective."

Detailing the material integrity of the scheme, Richard Prest concluded:

"We wanted the extension to feel rooted in its place, so we took materials from the existing buildings—Portland stone, locally quarried Cotswold stone, and oak—but used them with contemporary precision to give the new building its own character."

Implications for Rural Heritage and Contemporary Architecture

The completion of the Cotswolds rectory project by Prest Vale Architects carries significant implications for how heritage properties across the United Kingdom are adapted for 21st-century living.

For decades, historic country homes faced a dichotomy in planning and design: preservationists often demanded strict, invisible mimicry that hindered modern domestic functions, while avant-garde architects occasionally imposed jarring glass-and-steel boxes that compromised historical integrity. Prest Vale Architects’ approach demonstrates a third, more sophisticated path: contextual evolution.

By mirroring the established vernacular—using local Cotswold stone gables—while introducing unmistakable markers of contemporary craftsmanship (such as the crisp Portland stone fenestration, the geometric precision of the joinery, and the sculptural sundial), the studio proves that historic buildings do not need to be preserved in amber to retain their cultural value. Instead, they can absorb new architectural layers that honestly reflect the era in which they were added.

Furthermore, the project highlights the critical role of landscape integration in historic conservation. By removing the oppressive earth bank and installing a traditional ha-ha, the design team solved a functional interior problem—lack of light and blocked views—while simultaneously enhancing the ecological and visual continuity of the wider Oxfordshire countryside.

As high-end residential design in regions like the Cotswolds continues to attract innovative architectural practices—evidenced by recent works from Michaelis Boyd and DeDraft—Prest Vale Architects’ rectory sets a high benchmark. It illustrates that respect for heritage, structural daring, and vernacular sensitivity are not mutually exclusive, but rather the essential ingredients for creating homes capable of enduring for another three hundred years.