# Restoring a mill without pretending
Author: Hana Sato
Author URL: https://demofolio.superblog.click/author/hana-sato/
Published: 2026-07-25
Category: Restoration
Category URL: https://demofolio.superblog.click/category/restoration/
Meta Title: Restoring a mill without pretending · Folio
Meta Description: A water mill turned into a house, where the new work is plainly new and the old work is left alone.
Tags: timber, restoration, stone, mills
Tag URLs: timber (https://demofolio.superblog.click/tag/timber/), restoration (https://demofolio.superblog.click/tag/restoration/), stone (https://demofolio.superblog.click/tag/stone/), mills (https://demofolio.superblog.click/tag/mills/)
URL: https://demofolio.superblog.click/restoring-a-mill-without-pretending/

![A stone mill with its wheel, beside the river](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1762592033388-100557e05884?ixid=M3w3OTAzOTJ8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxvbGQlMjBzdG9uZSUyMG1pbGwlMjByaXZlcnxlbnwxfDB8fHwxNzg4NjM0NzI1fDA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop)

There are two ways to restore an old building. You can make the new parts look old, or you can make them look new. The first is a lie that gets found out. The second is honest, and it is what we did here.

## What was kept

The stone shell, the roof timbers, the wheel pit and the race. The floors were rotten and went. The wheel had gone a century ago.

## What is new

A timber box inside the stone shell, holding the floors and the stair, standing clear of the old walls so you can see where one stops and the other starts. Steel where the loads needed it, painted the same dark grey as the frames.

## The wheel pit

Left empty, glazed over, lit from below. It is the dining room floor. Guests stand on it and look down at the water.
## FAQs
Q: Do you take on listed buildings?
A: Yes. Most of our restoration work is listed, and the conservation officer is part of the design team from the first meeting.

Q: How long did the mill take?
A: Two years from the first survey to moving in, of which eight months were waiting for consents and the winter the river flooded.

Q: Is the wheel coming back?
A: No. A working wheel would need the race rebuilt and the house would be a museum. The pit tells the story better empty.




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