Matt Baker Converts Farm Barn Into Family Home in Durham

Television presenter Matt Baker is renovating a barn, stable and granary beside his parents' farmhouse in County Durham as part of the new series Matt Baker: Our Barn in the Dales, which follows his effort to make farm life easier for his ageing parents after health setbacks.

The series shows Matt and his wife Nicola converting the unused buildings into a cottage, while continuing to manage the demands of the family farm, including caring for sheep and completing daily agricultural work.

According to Gloucestershire Live and WalesOnline, the project was influenced by Matt's father Mike suffering a fall and his mother Janice's serious 2021 accident, when she was knocked down and trampled by sheep while working on the farm.

Matt announced the new series in an Instagram post featuring his wife and parents, explaining that the programme would follow the conversion work and the family's continued life on the farm.

"We're back with a new series but with quite the twist...We're calling it Our Barn in the Dales as Nicola and I are converting the barn, stable and granary at the end of the courtyard into a cottage." said Matt Baker, presenter.

The presenter also described what viewers would see across the two-season project, including the farm animals, his parents and a long-awaited classic car restoration.

"all the things you loved in the previous series with the animals, mum, dad and not forgetting his classic car - spoiler, we finally finished it!" said Matt Baker, presenter.

Matt's parents have remained involved in the programme. His father Mike appeared holding a walking stick, while Janice celebrated her 70th birthday in February, when Matt shared a tribute message.

"70 amazing years packed full of fun and adventures, always inspiring us to go for it! Not a proper leap year birthday party for you this year, but 70's definitely worth celebrating. Love you x" said Matt Baker, presenter.

The Baker family moved to a farm west of Durham during Matt's childhood after leaving Easington, where his father ran a newsagent's and the family kept a smallholding. Matt has previously explained that his mother encouraged the move to the countryside.

"She was adopted and doesn't know much about her background, but she was drawn to the countryside. Before we moved, she said 'This is the time'. It's a beautiful part of the world." said Matt Baker, presenter.

The farm is a 100-acre organic sheep farm in the Durham Hills, part of the Durham Dales. Matt later moved back permanently after his mother's accident and took on more responsibility for the property's daily operations.

Matt discussed the impact of his parents' changing circumstances on The Mid Point podcast in 2025, describing how the family decided adjustments were needed after years of concern about the physical demands of farming.

"My dad, who's not incredibly mobile now, was in a right state and what have you. Straight away we were like, we're going to come back and just assess the situation. And we got back, we'd been waiting for a long time for something to go wrong.

It gets very nerve-wracking when you get to this phase in your life and your parents are getting older and you know what they're doing is really practical and quite full on as a lifestyle. They never wanted to leave the farm, but it was getting very demanding, but you try and have a conversations, but parents being parents. And then this event happened and it was quite obvious to my mum straight away that things needed to change and so we decided to change the farm up." said Matt Baker, presenter.

The new series follows the family as they continue the barn conversion while dealing with the ongoing responsibilities of running a working sheep farm.