{"id":2828,"date":"2025-12-10T09:42:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T01:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/2025\/12\/10\/a-family-home-in-a-seaside-church-in-devon-a-tuckey-design-studio-creative-reuse-project\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T09:42:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T01:42:28","slug":"a-family-home-in-a-seaside-church-in-devon-a-tuckey-design-studio-creative-reuse-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/a-family-home-in-a-seaside-church-in-devon-a-tuckey-design-studio-creative-reuse-project\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0e1a\u0e49\u0e32\u0e19\u0e04\u0e23\u0e2d\u0e1a\u0e04\u0e23\u0e31\u0e27\u0e43\u0e19\u0e42\u0e1a\u0e2a\u0e16\u0e4c\u0e23\u0e34\u0e21\u0e17\u0e30\u0e40\u0e25\u0e43\u0e19\u0e40\u0e14\u0e27\u0e2d\u0e19: \u0e42\u0e04\u0e23\u0e07\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e2a\u0e23\u0e49\u0e32\u0e07\u0e2a\u0e23\u0e23\u0e04\u0e4c\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e43\u0e0a\u0e49\u0e0b\u0e49\u0e33\u0e42\u0e14\u0e22\u0e2a\u0e15\u0e39\u0e14\u0e34\u0e42\u0e2d\u0e2d\u0e2d\u0e01\u0e41\u0e1a\u0e1a\u0e17\u0e31\u0e04\u0e01\u0e35\u0e49"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Old Chapel looked more like a new conference center when Tuckey Design Studio was called in to remedy things. Located on the South Devon coast in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the stone church dates from the first half of the 20th century and had been converted into living quarters in the 197os and further worked on in the 1990s. The Tuckey team\u2019s assessment of the interventions: \u201cthe majority held no historic or architectural value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Specialists in sensitive, artful updates of old buildings, the London architecture firm made it their mission to reinstate \u201cthe original character of the chapel,\u201d a sense of awe included. There\u2019s now a soaring nave that serves as the main living space, Gothic windows, and a misty coastal palette borrowed from a J.M.W. Turner seascape.<\/p>\n

The remodel was also designed to serve as living quarters for owners Tara and Jeremy Bowles, who bought the property as a vacation place for their family, only to decide to make it their full-time home. Join us for a tour of their exalted dwelling (and scroll to the end to see the floor plans).<\/p>\n

Photography by James Brittain, courtesy of Tuckey Design Studio.<\/p>\n


Above: An old stone wall separates the brick and stucco chapel from the main road.
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Above: The exterior looks much as it did a century ago.
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Above: Tuckey Design Studio fitted the entrance hall\/boot room with painted wood cabinets, oak hooks, and a floor of handmade terracotta tiles. For similar oak benches, see Another Country.,

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Above: The main room is now unmistakably a former place of worship. \u201cWe echoed the timber palette typical of rural chapels, implementing wooden shutters, a plywood staircase inserted into a stone arch, and exposed slatted rafters,\u201d explains lead architect Elena Aleksandrov. The bespoke inglenook in the center serves as a dividing wall between the living room and the dining area\/kitchen, a pew-style bench, and cabinet that holds, among other things, the TV and music system. The 1827 Turner painting that inspired the custom paint colors throughout is Three Seascapes, <\/em>a marine sketch at the Tate.<\/span>
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Above: The Gothic windows have painted wood bi-fold shutters with oak trim. The wide floorboards are original, newly sanded and restored. The glazed ceramic Mag Square Coffee Table is by David Schofield for The Conran Shop\u2014read about the design in Remodelista Reconnaissance: A Poetic, All-Purpose Little Table. <\/p>\n

Overhead, the painted trusses and reclaimed timber boards were, notes Aleksandrov,<\/span> \u201cinstalled flush with exposed existing joists\u2014with new insulation added behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Above: The chapel is set in a South Devon village on the sea\u2014the design team included an outdoor shower and surf rack.
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Above: The kitchen is tucked into the back of the main room and has band-sawn cabinets made for the space from deVol\u2019s Sebastian Cox edition: here\u2019s our Kitchen of the Week story on the line. The Original Stool is by Ercol, available from DWR. The glass door opens to a new terrace.
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Above: The zinc-topped island is fitted with induction burners.
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Above: The aged brass pull-down bridge faucet is from Perrin & Rowe\u2019s Armstrong line.,

Above: The architects tucked a mezzanine over the kitchen. The plywood staircase with a reeded glass window rises alongside a newly exposed and repointed stone masonry arched wall\u2014\u201da reminder of a wooden choir\/pulpit structure,\u201d say the architects.
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Above: The upstairs space is used as an office and extra bedroom.
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Above: A stair of handmade terracotta tile with \u201cincreased mortar joints\u201d leads down to the newly designed ground-floor that, thanks to a new extension, houses four bedrooms.
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Above: The rooms all have glazed doors that open to the garden and were designed to have an ecclesiastical feel: \u201cgiven the reduced dimension and intimate nature of the spaces, we played with a calm and muted palette that echoes the monastic character of the building,\u201d explains Aleksandrov. Note the plaster wall niche. The bedside light is Original BTC\u2019s Hector Small Dome Light, a longstanding Remodelista favorite.,

Above: This room opens to a new patio with handmade terracotta tiles indoors and out and a whitewashed wood brise soleil to shade the space. The midcentury metal outdoor chairs are Willy Guhl Loop designs. <\/p>\n

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Above: The main chapel now houses the living area, dining room, and kitchen, which opens to a back terrace. \u201cTuckey Design Studio first removed the earlier additions from the 1990s and reinstated the former north entrance to the chapel as the main stair hall, allowing for a more fluid circulation throughout the whole space, and between the living spaces at first floor and bedrooms at ground floor,\u201d write the architects.
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Above: A new attic suite was inserted over the kitchen.
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Above: An addition on the ground floor enabled the architects to fit in four bedrooms and baths, plus a patio garden. <\/p>\n

More standout projects by Tuckey Design Studio:<\/p>\n