“Not one but two bungalows please,” was the request of Mr and Mrs Akehurst in Denton, Canterbury.

Our clients who have lived in their own Colt bungalow in Denton since 1976 required a new bungalow for their son Alan, his wife Laura, and their expanding young family so they could all be close at hand on the farm where Alan grew up.
A second bungalow was also required on the farm for their long-term tenant whose pre-war home was now nearing its end

In the autumn of 2018, we provided scheme drawings for two mirrored bungalows to our prospective clients, in addition to some useful information about the services we provide.

After a few adjustments to the layout to suit the family’s needs, a planning application followed and was granted in early spring the following year, 2019.
Building regulations were controlled by Dover District council and the foundations and drainage were completed by May 2019.

During the foundation work, we commenced the manufacture of the first bungalow in our workshop in Woodchurch, Kent and delivered this to site in readiness for the completed concrete base. We commenced the fabrication of the second superstructure and took this to site after the erecting of Bungalow One was complete.

Both bungalows were erected, doubled glazed window and doors installed and roof tiles fixed in just ten weeks. We had a short break whilst the landscaping and paths went in and we returned in September to fix the beautiful Western Red Cedar horizontal boarding.

Although internal fixtures and fitting were carried out by others, these two stunning bungalows are a true testament to the history and pedigree of Colt Houses.

The safety of our staff and the general public is always paramount and never compromised, no matter what we are working on.
This is demonstrated here whilst working at our Kent County Show Ground in preparation of this years (2019) County Show.

A professional access platform with safety netting and guard rails was erected, ensuring the safety of our workforce and showground staff during this replacement window change and general maintenance programme in June this year.

We replaced the thirty-four-year-old commentary suite windows with new energy rated A white uPVC frames with safety glass, in addition to maintaining some decayed timber sub-frames beneath.

In 1985 the showground’s Astor Pavilion was built by W.H. Colt Son & Co Limited and opened by HRH Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Cedar has many uses on a Colt house, primarily cedar wood roof or wall shingles, or horizontal cedar boarding to the walls of a house.

However, cedar can also be used in balustrading as these photos clearly show true workmanship!

July was a busy month for replacement roofs, mainly out of the county.  This bungalow in Norwich benefited from the rear elevation of the roof being replaced with Blue Label Western Red mirco-pro treated cedar shingles, fastened with silicon bronze nails.

Finally, one coat of Texnap 22 nourishing oil was applied to the front elevation.

1969 was not only Colt House’s half century, this was also the year the Hosking family built their own bungalow in Charing, Kent. Together with four good size bedrooms and far reaching views, this was the perfect home!
2019, fifty years on, and we celebrate a century of fine timber buildings and Mr Hosking is still enjoying his bungalow and the pleasant views.
We all think of the future and what it will hold for us in old age and Mr Hosking was no exception, after contacting our office to look at the possibility of extending his four-bedroom bungalow to accommodate a live-in carer.
It was after visiting the bungalow, it was clear that an extension may not be necessary due to the generous size of the two end bedrooms; an annexe could be created in the space we had.
Having just over thirty-four square metres to work with, a little bigger than a double garage, we had ample floor space to create the client specific specification.
Together we designed a unique self-contained living quarter with its own personal entrance door and a link to the bungalow through a lockable door off the end passage as communication and access between the two parts of the bungalow was paramount.
A fully integrated kitchen and en-suite with bath, shower, w/c and vanity unit, in addition to a bedroom with two small single beds and a comfortable living area was achieved without extending.
The conversion work was carried out under our LABC and completed within eight weeks from start to finish. Further improvements to the bungalow was also carried out at the same time to the aged electrics and plumbing, in addition to some new replacement windows.
Our client was most impressed with our attention to detail and respectfulness to his privacy during the work and was delighted with the end result!