Lots going on at Cobdown House as our 2M renovation continues.
We are moving towards the tail end of the build with more finishing touches and the last of the construction work nearing completion.
This week the roof goes on the Orangery. The glazing, being built off-site, to be installed later this month. The Orangery will be a new addition, creating a second events area, and stands on the original footprint of the house’s large Conservatory on top of the main events area.
The flooring is going down in the main parts of the original house and looks fantastic. Lighting is starting to go up too.
We have tried to choose lighting style that complements the original Victorian feel, but with a modern ‘vibe’.
A huge landmark this month was the completion by our IT infrastructure expert, Colin Middleton, of Cobdown House’s modern business network. 10 months in the making it’s quite a transformation. Our old basement/storage area has been transformed into a dedicated, self-contained Data, Server & Communications Room. We’ve installed a new 10Gb internet connection, supported by a 10Gb network backbone throughout the site, giving Cobdown House the infrastructure to support both Advo One, who are already based here, and the businesses that will call Cobdown House home in the future.
At the front an rear of the house works are underway to improve parking availability to complement the new carpark at the front of the house. This work that uncovered previous demolition rubble seems to have also uncovered traces of the life of the house when a comfortable private residence.
Some quirky finds certainly show the human side of life before it’s transformation in the 1930s.
This includes half a porcelain spere, believed to be part of a Victorian indoor lawn style parlour games or miniature croquet set. fragments of beautiful plates, dating from between 1825 -1860. You can just imagine someone dropping the plate while having their cucumber sandwiches in the garden.
In addition there are Victorian medicine bottles (1840-1870s) and what appears at first to be part of a cup, but more likely it seems from a ceramic baby’s feeding bottle. There is a workman’s white clay pipe dating from the time of the house’s build (c.1840-1860). The bottle shown above, embossed with Swanscom brewery, could also date from this period, although it might be a later date up to the 1920s.
The finds are ordinary for the time, but do paint a wonderful picture of domestic life in this beautiful Victorian home.
For the history buffs there is more information of the history of the house in the following links.