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The Roman Villa with a Contemporary Twist

©Rex

Ancient and contemporary have combined to create a unique semi-circular home in Cirencester, which comes complete with its very own hidden Roman mosaics.In 2001 developer and interior designer Jon Edgson and his wife Catherine brought a derelict sixties house for £200,000 in the Gloucestershire-based town.

With the property boasting a 300ft garden, the couple spent £250,000 renovating the house before selling it, along with 200ft of land, for £465,000 in 2007.They then turned their attention to the remaining 100ft of land and the possibility of building an entirely new structure.

However, Cirencester, or ‘Corinium Dubunnorum’, is an important Roman town and in ancient times and still acts as the regional and administrative centre for the Cotswolds.As such many ruins, such as the mosaic floors of the 4th Century villa found beneath Jon's land, can be found in the area.Due to this much of the centre of town is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument, with strict rules and regulations regarding building work.

Before planning permission could even be considered, the Edgson's first had to spend £25,000 getting an archaeological dig carried out by English Heritage.This exploration uncovered a mosaic floor from a Roman townhouse buried under the spot where the couple wished to build.With the recommendation that the mosaics should remain where they were, rather than be removed, Jon came up with a compromise to please the planners.

He was given permission to build on the condition that nothing he built could touch the mosaics or the ten inches of earth above them.This also meant that the building had to be light, to ensure that it didn't sink down onto the mosaics over the years.In addition, the building could be no taller than the surrounding fencing and the finished building had to in some way reflect the town's Roman connection.

Such stringent restrictions forced Jon to get creative and he decided to take a Roman villa as his inspiration but give it a contemporary twist.The end result is an unusual semi-circular property that cost £300,000 and six months to build.Before work even began, Jon first laid a special kind of concrete platform above the mosaics, which served as a foundation for the house.

©Rex

A single-storey building, measuring just 11 1/2ft tall, was then constructed using Western Red Cedar cladding, an expensive but very light wood, and natural lime render. In the finished curved property, all of the rooms face onto a central Italian-style courtyard.At the south end of the property the main entertaining/living spaces can be found, consisting of a living room and kitchen/dining room.

With its oak wood flooring, the airy sitting room is decorated in an English country style and boasts three sets of tri-fold glazed doors that open onto the courtyard.Next to this, the kitchen/dining room boasts limestone flooring and units in a minimalist birch and stainless steel design. In the centre of the room stands a breakfast island with Carrera marble top.

The other rooms in the property all lead off a curved passage that runs the length of the building from the sitting room.At one end is master bedroom suite, which comes complete with an ensuite with special 'rainhead' shower.Next to this are two further bedrooms, a study and a family bathroom, which benefits from a separate luxury shower with a massage and steam facility