A building that began as a medieval inn, grew into an Elizabethan coaching house, acquired a Georgian ballroom and a brick facade, and now serves as one of the finest antiques centres in the country — The Swan at Tetsworth is a four-hundred-year lesson in adaptation. Every generation found a new purpose for the same structure, adding layers without erasing what came before. That instinct to work with what exists, to find fresh possibilities in an inherited form, is something I recognise deeply. Tetsworth grew up at a crossroads on the old London-to-Oxford road, and the village still carries the shape of that history — a compact core of older buildings gathered around the green, with later development stretching along the route that is now the A40. It is a place built on movement and connection, and the architecture reflects that restless, practical energy.
Award-winning Architects in Tetsworth
Experience That Serves a Village Like Tetsworth
I founded Gresford Architects in London in 2006 and moved the practice to Oxford, where we work from the Eco Centre in Osney Mead. We are RIBA Chartered, ARB Registered, accredited on The Green Register and members of the Passivhaus Trust and SPAB — that last one, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, shaped how we think about working with older buildings. In a village like Tetsworth, where The Swan — a Grade II* listed coaching inn — sits alongside twentieth-century semis and recent infill, that combination of expertise matters. Each era of building asks for a different kind of architectural intelligence. Our project The Deerings, a certified Passivhaus in Hertfordshire, won a RIBA East Award for its fusion of energy performance and design quality. The Old Water Tower was shortlisted for a RIBA South Award, and I was a finalist for Sustainability Architect of the Year at the 2018 Building Design Awards. Our work has been published in Dezeen, Grand Designs Magazine and The Modern House Journal. In 2025, I was invited to judge the British Homes Awards. Whether the project is a sensitive renovation of a listed property or a contemporary new build on the edge of the village, we bring the same depth of care and the same commitment to getting the detail right.
How We Work in Tetsworth
Tetsworth falls under South Oxfordshire District Council for planning, and the village's Neighbourhood Development Plan — made in May 2021 — gives the community a clear voice in how it grows. Although Tetsworth does not have a designated conservation area, its listed buildings and the character of the village core are recognised in the Parish Character Assessment, which identifies the green, the older dwellings along the high street and the sympathetic relationship between historic and newer buildings as defining features. Any project here needs to understand that balance between preservation and practical improvement.
Extension Design is where many projects in Tetsworth begin. The older cottages and houses around the green and along the high street were built for different patterns of living, and a well-considered extension can transform how a home works without disrupting the proportions and materials that give the streetscape its coherence. The stone cottages and rendered houses around the green sit on tight village plots, which means extensions need to read as natural continuations of the original — we continue rooflines, match materials and respect the rhythm of fenestration that gives the streetscape its character. For the mid-century semis and detached homes along the A40 corridor, there is more freedom to be inventive with form and material, but we still design within the village's practical, unshowy palette.
Sustainable Design runs through everything we do, and in a village where so much of the housing stock dates from the 1950s to the 1970s, it takes on particular relevance in Tetsworth. These solid-walled, single-glazed homes — built along the A40 and scattered through the village — are draughty in winter and expensive to heat, but they represent a genuine opportunity. We treat sustainability not as a constraint but as an opportunity to make homes more comfortable, more economical to run and more joyful to live in. From the orientation of a new opening to the specification of insulation and glazing, every decision contributes to a building that works harder for its occupants and lighter on the planet.
New Build Design on appropriate sites offers the chance to add to Tetsworth's story rather than simply repeating it. The Neighbourhood Development Plan identifies the village's expectations for new housing, and we bring an approach that draws on local material traditions while being honest about the era in which we build. PassivHaus Design takes new build performance to a certified standard — exceptional insulation, airtightness, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and carefully positioned glazing delivering a home that remains comfortable in every season with minimal running costs. The Deerings proved that a Passivhaus can be architecturally distinctive, not merely technically competent.
Renovations matter here too. The Swan itself is proof that a building can be reimagined without losing its essential character, and the same principle applies to the village's listed and older properties. Whether the work involves opening up a ground floor, upgrading services within a sensitive structure, or carefully restoring original features, we approach each building on its own terms. EnerPHit, the certified retrofit standard, provides a rigorous framework for improving the thermal performance of older buildings while respecting their fabric — coordinating insulation, airtightness and ventilation into a whole-building strategy rather than addressing problems piecemeal. And for the open countryside around Tetsworth, Paragraph 84 of the National Planning Policy Framework permits architecturally outstanding homes in rural settings where the design genuinely enhances its immediate landscape.
Tetsworth is a village that has always adapted — to the road, to the travellers, to each new chapter. If you are planning a project here, we would welcome the chance to help write the next one.