Converted buildings can offer unique places to call home. KERRY ANN EUSTICE talks to one man who liked restoring sites so much, he set up a company devoted to it.

Before the era of home-makeover shows Barry Morgan, a home improvement consultant, bought a property in Putney. It was quite run down and needed a fair amount of updating.

So, in 1984, Barry did the place up and a few months later, sold it on for a profit. He invested in another home and while living there made improvements to that property too.

This cycle continued and Barry moved from flat, to house, to block of flats to grand Georgian villa.

He formed Morgan Restoration a house-building company with a twist. Its commercial projects include developing listed buildings and creating contemporary conversions from abandoned industrial sites.

After a string of urban-based builds, 10 years on, Barry was on the lookout for a fresh challenge.

He decided to take on a rural restoration a near-derelict collection of listed 18th-century farm buildings and a 17th-century farmhouse in Horton Kirby.

Despite the building's dilapidated appearance, Barry saw potential in the old place and decided he wanted to keep one of the buildings as his family home.

He converted the other structures a stable and a granary and sold them as family homes under the Morgan Restoration banner.

Barry remembers: "I found the farm and although I'd restored a Georgian villa and converted a laundry into flats, at that point I'd never taken on anything as ambitious. It was my first time working with agricultural buildings."

The night before work began on the farm building, known as Eglantine Farm, Barry couldn't sleep he had no idea what to expect.

His anxiety was not unfounded. The plot needed to be stabilised and underpinned. But Barry's 10 years of experience came to the fore and the project turned out to be a great homage to his restoration expertise.

Eglantine's barn and milking parlour became a four-bedroom family home for the Morgans. Its specially-crafted oak beams support a 30ft glazed atrium and a galleried mezzanine which overlooks the living area.

Original features sit cosily alongside mod cons, for example everyone's bedroom has an en-suite bathroom and there is underfloor heating.

Barry says his developments often reflect his own tastes and the Hans Grohe showers and Phillipe Starck taps found at Eglantine can be found at Morgan Restoration sites too.

Although Eglantine Farm has kept the Morgan family, their pygmy goat Daisy, their guinea pigs and various other farmyard pets happy all this time, Barry has recently spotted another property ripe for restoration, so he is putting the farm up for sale.

Tucked away in Foots Cray Meadows is a Grade II Listed stable and chauffer's cottage surrounded by an overgrown walled garden also listed.

Previously part of Foots Cray Place, a country estate, the site currently sits on English Heritage's At Risk Register. Until Barry gets started on it that is.

He is working on restoring the stable's period features and creating another luxurious home for his family.

"It's taken 10 years to find something better than Eglantine," Barry admits. "I'm hoping to have it finished in the autumn."

Barry's deadline could be tight, especially if he meets the demands set by his teenage daughter, who wants a bedroom worthy of a rock star which will be soundproofed to ensure her guitar solos don't disturb the rest of the Morgan's country idyll.

For more information about Eglantine Farm, visit the website morgan restoration.co.uk