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Catherine Colston and her husband, Alistair, replaced their long-time listed home with a new-build designed for their phased retirement. The house includes a ground-floor main bedroom, accessible features, energy-efficiency measures and a landscaped garden planned for easier upkeep.
Catherine and Alistair Colston have built a new home tailored to their plans for phased retirement, combining features intended to support future mobility with an individual interior and views across a valley. The project, profiled by Ideal Home, shows how one couple approached downsizing by designing a home for their changing needs rather than moving into a ready-made property.
The Colstons had lived for 26 years in a Grade II-listed home before deciding to downsize. Catherine, a property investor and owner of Black Door Stays, and Alistair, a chartered surveyor, initially considered retrofitting a house across the road from their existing home. They told Ideal Home that the work would be expensive and would require compromises on room sizes, so they sought permission to demolish and rebuild, with an extension onto the site of a small garage.
They worked with BPB Architects and interior designer Grace King of Studio Rey on the layout. The main bedroom suite is on the ground floor, and a full-length floating balcony can be reached from both the living room and bedroom. In the kitchen, ergonomic drawers and a dishwasher raised to waist height are intended to reduce bending. The couple also chose a generous walk-in shower and a double vanity in the en-suite.
For energy performance, the house has south-facing roof solar panels, an air-source heat pump, triple glazing and underfloor heating. The Colstons told the magazine these measures were intended to make the home thermally efficient and inexpensive to run; the report does not provide energy bills or measured performance. Outside, terraces, raised beds and plans for an outdoor kitchen are part of a lower-maintenance garden. The couple also plan to plant fruit trees and wildflowers on land they bought behind the house, and have a pond intended to support rainwater irrigation.
Designing for Changing Mobility
The project illustrates a practical choice facing people planning to remain in a home as their needs change: adapt an existing property or build around future access from the outset. A ground-floor bedroom, a walk-in shower and reduced bending in the kitchen address everyday tasks that can become harder with age. They do not establish that the house will meet every future care or accessibility need, but they show how those concerns shaped its design.
The Colstons also made comfort and visual character part of the brief rather than treating accessibility as the sole priority. Their home pairs the mobility-minded layout with a balcony, valley views, a designed garden and rooms differentiated by colour and materials. That combination matters to readers because planning for later life can involve more than avoiding stairs: it can also mean creating a place people want to live in for the long term.
The energy systems and reduced-maintenance landscaping are further parts of their plan. The couple described the systems as ways to keep the home warm and running costs low, but no independent cost or energy data is included in the source. The example is a personal project, not evidence that the same approach will suit every household or budget.
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From Listed Home to New Build
The couple’s decision followed a long period in a historic home. After 26 years in a Grade II-listed property, they decided it was time to downsize, but wanted their next home to serve them through retirement. They told Ideal Home that seeing mobility issues experienced by their elderly parents influenced their thinking.
The plot they chose was across the road, with views over a valley. Their first idea was to retrofit the house already on the site. In their account, the expected cost and the resulting limits on room sizes made that option less appealing. They applied for permission to demolish and rebuild, extending the new house onto the area occupied by a small garage. The source does not give the project’s cost, construction timeline or planning authority’s conditions.
The interiors were designed with a recurring thread of colour and complementary timber finishes, while allowing rooms to have distinct character. The kitchen combines terrazzo, ribbed painted doors and walnut cabinetry; the living room uses voile curtains to soften a large picture window without obscuring the view. In the bedroom, a framed fabric feature above the bed was suggested by King as a cost-effective detail, according to Catherine.
“We’re both moving into a phased retirement, and we wanted a home that was going to see us through our latter years.”
— Catherine Colston, speaking to Ideal Home
Costs and Performance Remain Unreported
The Ideal Home report presents the house through the owners’ account and does not provide a build budget, detailed timeline or measured energy use. It is not possible from the published information to verify the couple’s expectation that the home will cost little to run or to compare the project’s expense with retrofitting the original house.
Some garden features are still planned rather than complete: an outdoor kitchen is to come, and the couple say they intend to plant fruit trees and wildflowers on the land behind the house. The report also does not specify whether any further accessibility measures may be needed as their circumstances change.
Planned Garden Work Ahead
The couple’s stated next steps include adding an outdoor kitchen and planting fruit trees and wildflowers in the field they bought behind the house. They have also created raised beds for vegetables and flowers and installed a pond intended to help with rainwater irrigation. The report does not give dates for these plans.
For readers considering a similar project, the Colstons’ account points to decisions made early in the design process: where to place the main bedroom, how to make daily tasks easier, and which systems and outdoor features fit their plans. The source does not offer a formal building or financial assessment, so those details would need to be weighed separately for any individual project.
Key Questions
Who lives in the new-build home?
Catherine and Alistair Colston live there. Catherine is a property investor and owner of Black Door Stays; Alistair is a chartered surveyor.
What features were designed with future mobility in mind?
The main bedroom suite is on the ground floor, and the en-suite has a generous walk-in shower. The kitchen includes ergonomic drawers and a waist-height dishwasher to reduce bending.
What energy-efficiency measures does the home have?
The house has solar panels, an air-source heat pump, triple glazing and underfloor heating. The report does not include measured energy use or bills.
Why did the couple choose to build rather than retrofit?
They told Ideal Home that retrofitting the existing house would be expensive and would require compromises on room sizes. They applied to demolish and rebuild, extending onto the site of a small garage.
Are all the garden features finished?
No. The report says an outdoor kitchen is still to come, and the couple plan to plant fruit trees and wildflowers on land behind the house.
Source: idealhome.co.uk
