The sumptuous and sophisticated conversion of a former dairy by the architect Charlotte Skene-Catling. The Dairy House is located in England between Bruton and Castle Cary.The engaging design and carefully considered detailing of the property is of a quality rarely matched in the UK – black Indian marble, for instance, is used throughout the kitchen, and alternating strips of estate oak and opaque glass form the newly-added annex.


The house has approximately 2,030 sq ft of internal space, which includes five bedrooms, a large kitchen, a large reception room with an open fireplace, a study area and, outside the property, a bathing pool. There is a generously sized garden that overlooks the rural landscape of Somerset.

The extension houses two bathrooms; everything behind the retaining wall can be flooded with water. Layered oak and laminated float glass produce an eerie, filtered light. The materializing effect of refraction and reflection create an aquatic underworld. The way the light moves around the house over the course of the day draws the user through it.

The property was originally built as a cheesemakers cottage in 1901. The conversion, completed in 2006, involved demolishing every partition within the original structure and creating a series of rooms within the stone shell. Added to the back of the original cottage is a beautiful oak and glass annex. The conversion and additions were conceived by Charlotte Skene-Catling of SCDLP .

Charlotte Skene-Catling

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