Accessible Holiday Home, Somerset – The Big Tin Barn is now taking bookings
The Wilson family own a farm in Ilminster, Somerset. During the pandemic the Wilson’s considered buying an additional Barn nearby with the idea to convert it to become an accessible holiday home specifically for people with severe disabilities and complex medical needs.
When they came into some money; the family were considering what to do with it and considered a holiday home for themselves however they felt a strong urge to help families living with complex needs / disabilities given they have relatives and friends who care for children with complex needs. Their Sister has cared for boys with Duchennes – a form of muscular dystrophy and their Brother / Brother in law’s child has a brain tumor plus a friend from university had a baby born with complex needs.
Shortly after the pandemic the Wilson family acquired the Barn/land and applied for planning permission. It took 1 year for completion and the holiday home finally opened for bookings on the 1st July 2024.
The barn offers ample space with open plan kitchen / living area and garden, a large downstairs bathroom with bath / showering facilities including hoist equipment and a standard en-suite with showering facilities. The barn also has 4 bedrooms; 3 bedrooms on the ground floor (1 with ceiling track hoist and 2 profiling beds, a master bedroom, and a twin. Further master bedroom on the first floor (with king size bed + single bed) along with upstairs living room area.
The kitchen area is particularly beneficial as it offers families the opportunity to go on holiday and make full use of the kitchen area. How important is food and looking forward to a meal; especially for families with complex needs / limited mobility when it’s not as easy to get out and about or go very far. In this kitchen; everyone can take a turn at preparing a meal making it a truly multi-generational space for all the family.
In order to spec the inside kitchen area and other areas of the accessible barn the Wilson family took it upon themselves to carry out some research online. They came across a few accessible holiday home websites which appeared to have a very high spec of bathroom and kitchen equipment catering for disabled needs:
- Ablestay accessible holiday home in London
- Flat Spaces accessible holiday bungalow, New Forest on the South Coast.
The Wilson’s reached out to Ablestay and Flat Spaces via social media to find out more about these properties and Charles Van Berckel from Ablestay was quick to reply and offered the Wilson’s a tour of Ablestay. The Wilsons were particularly interested to find out where the kitchen was sourced from and Charles explained it was a range called Freedom by Symphony; designed in conjunction with expert designer Adam Thomas, who has 40 years of experience in accessible kitchen design.
The Wilson family made contact with Adam and Symphony and their ideas for the kitchen space were carefully considered and a design quickly followed taking into consideration fundamental design principles to achieve the most inspired space:
Main Kitchen features chosen by the Wilson family:
- Freedom Adjustable Height L-Shape Worktop
A superb feature allowing for wheelchair users, adults/carers, young adults and children (supervised), to adjust the height of the worktop, making food / drink preparation enjoyable for all the family to take part in.
- Freedom Accessible Reduced Depth Sink & Tap
Great for wheelchair users / small adults; allowing comfortable seated access beneath the sink thanks to the reduced depth base, whilst front mounted tap allows control of the water supply without reaching across the sink.
- NEFF Slide & Hide Oven & Freedom Oven Housings with Heatproof Shelves
First seen by the Wilson’s on Channel 4’s “Bake Off” program; the door slides underneath the oven allowing users, including wheelchair users; safe access for lifting baking trays / cooking pots in and out of the oven. The heatproof shelf directly beneath the oven within the oven housing also provides a safe resting place for hot food before transferring to the adjacent worktop.
- Freedom iMove Pull Down Baskets for Improved Access
Provides access to items from higher up, the pull down baskets mechanism is fitted inside the cupboard and can accessed via the extended handle allowing independence in the kitchen area for access to items higher up without having to ask others.
- Freedom Cabinet with Recycle Bin
A really good addition to the kitchen space; it has encouraged holiday makers to recycle their waste into the appropriate compartment making life easier for sorting the rubbish before it is collected by the council.
All enquires for the accessible holiday home are welcome and should email for more information, they are now taking bookings for 2025: info@thebigtinbarn.com