This project repurposed some redundant and dilapidated but historically significant C18th and C19th barns arranged around a typical farm “stackyard” court to form three homes. The buildings are curtilage listed (to a grade II farmhouse), and are within the UNESCO designated Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. A sensitive and purist approach to retaining the as-found qualities of the buildings lies at the heart of the design. Respecting the historical and aesthetic integrity of the structures, no new openings were formed in external walls, existing roof trusses and lofty barn interiors were preserved, and the design specified the retention and repair of surviving internal historic fabric such as reed and lime ash floors. The scheme is also distinguished by the strategic decision to make the courtyard a garden space and focal point, rather than the parking area it often becomes in such developments.