A three-bedroom garden annexe for parents by The Green Room
The Burlington Lodge is an 81sqm annexe with two double bedrooms, a third bedroom that could also be used for a study or hobbies, and an open-plan kitchen and living space looking out over the garden.
This is an example of the Burlington Lodge, a three-bedroom garden annexe by The Green Room. It was commissioned by the homeowners as a self-contained home for their parents, in their garden near Peterborough.
They had considered buying a bungalow nearby. Instead, an annexe from The Green Room has given their parents two double bedrooms, a third bedroom that can be used as a study or hobby room, and their own tailor-made home a few steps down the garden path from the family.
At 81sqm, it’s one of the bigger annexes we have featured. That footprint has given the owners spacious double bedrooms, a full kitchen with a separate utility, and a large living space with views over the garden.
At a glance
- Size: 13.8m x 6.5m, 81sqm inside. Two double bedrooms, a third bedroom used as a reading room, an open-plan kitchen and living space, a utility room and a walk-in shower room.
- Built for: the homeowners’ parents, near Peterborough, as an alternative to buying a bungalow nearby.
- Construction: structural insulated panels (SIPs) on screw piles, with a Lawful Development Certificate.
- Finishes: a pitched slate-grey roof, grey fibre cement lap cladding and anthracite windows outside; a vaulted ceiling, oak-effect floors and oak doors inside.
- Company: The Green Room, Corby, as a turnkey service, from the site survey to the utility connections.
Part of our three-bedroom annexe guide →
Living space with views over the garden
Almost half the annexe is one open room. The ceiling follows the pitch of the roof up to a white structural beam, so the room feels taller and brighter than you’d find in a flat-roofed design.
A set of French doors flanked by full-height opening windows runs along the long side, looking out over the lawn. There’s space for a dining table by the doors, a sofa and armchair facing the television, and a run of shelving, without the room feeling crowded.
A full kitchen with a separate utility
The Burlington Lodge has a well-appointed kitchen, with integrated appliances in contemporary cabinetry. It’s set out in a U-shape, which creates a peninsula breakfast bar facing into the main living space, so the cook can talk to family and guests. It has a very sociable feel.
A door in the corner of the room leads to the utility room, which takes the laundry machines, coats and shoes, so none of that ends up in the kitchen. Room for a separate utility like this is one of the benefits of a larger annexe footprint.
Two double bedrooms and a smaller third room
A hallway leads from the living space to the bedrooms at the far end, past a storage cupboard and the shower room. The oak-effect floor and oak doors carry all the way through the annexe.
Both double bedrooms have built-in sliding wardrobes, with a mirrored door that bounces light around the room. The third bedroom is smaller, at 1.8m wide. Here it’s been set up as a reading room, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and an armchair by the window, but it would work just as well as a study or a single bedroom.
The shower room has a large walk-in shower with a glass screen, a sunken tray and grey tile-effect wall panels, with a vanity unit beside it. There’s no step up into the shower, which makes it easier to use as we get older.
Low and long in the garden
From the garden, the annexe is long and low, even with the pitched roof. It’s clad in grey fibre cement lap boards with anthracite windows, and a gravel patio along one side has room for outdoor seating. The owner describes it in her review as “a low profile discreet Tardis”.
From SIP panels to finished rooms
The Green Room have filmed a video tour of the Burlington Lodge. It shows the SIP panels going together and the rooms taking shape, then walks down the hallway to show the space in the bedrooms and the shower room.
A Lawful Development Certificate and six weeks on site
The annexe was built under the Caravan Act, backed up with a Lawful Development Certificate (LDC). The certificate confirms in writing that the council accepts the annexe as lawful for use alongside the main house. The Green Room build every annexe this way, and the application is part of their fixed price.
The word “caravan” can put people off, but it’s a legal definition, not a description of the building. The owner says the Burlington Lodge is “a million miles away from any kind of caravan”.
The walls, floor and roof are SIPs, and the building sits on screw piles rather than a concrete slab. It took six weeks from start to handover, with the walls plastered and ready to decorate. The owner mentions very low running costs, and says the whole thing cost far less than buying a bungalow locally.
A fixed price for the finished annexe
The Green Room are based in Corby, Northamptonshire, and run by Brian Connellan. They’ve specialised in annexes for twelve years, since building one in their own garden for Brian’s father-in-law.
Their quote is fixed and covers the finished annexe, from the free site survey and the certificate to the foundations, the fitted kitchen and shower room, and the connections to the main house’s utilities.
For a smaller example of their work, we’ve also featured the Ridgemount, a 50sqm one-bedroom annexe with a full-size kitchen.
Learn more about The Green Room
To talk to The Green Room about an annexe of your own, call 01536 358387, email info@the-green-room.co.uk, or visit www.the-green-room.co.uk.
