Merry's family have been Herefordshire builders for generations, so she knew that the county was rich in traditional building crafts. She and Ben decided to combine these with technology for a new house with a genuinely rural feel.
So in the spirit of this grand project, Merry's father drew up a design that followed the traditional cottage layout while incorporating modern comforts.
Budget And Build
Cost of site 55,000
Budget for build £65,000
Final cost of build £75,000
Total cost of project £130,000
Downstairs was a living/dining area and kitchen, with a large utility room to house appliances. Upstairs were three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The bedrooms were placed under sloping eaves with dormer windows, in true cottage style. But jugs and washstands were replaced by a modern bathroom and an en-suite shower room.
The construction would be a mixture of brand new building technology and traditional techniques. Time-honoured elements included the green oak frame, which would be left exposed inside, and a clay-tiled roof. The walls would rest on a plinth of hand-made bricks, and a large brick chimney would form a feature at one end. The walls themselves, however, would be made of SIPS: light but strong prefabricated panels that would be bolted on to the timber frame. Finally, these would be covered with utterly traditional and locally mixed lime render.
The build was a family affair. The frame was made in Merry's father's workshop; her uncle helped manage the project; and her cousins offered their expertise on site. Once the footings had been dug, Ben took time off from work at the local council to help erect the frame. Meanwhile Merry, who worked as her father's design assistant, was planning how to achieve a mellow look.
Reclaimed tiles were used for the roof. All the external wood was to be oiled and left to silver in the weather. Merry and Ben asked for a rough finish to the lime render to help blur the edges of the new building. For their front-door knocker and interior door handles and window latches, they turned to a local blacksmith and commissioned bespoke black iron designs.
They had given themselves a tight, 16-week schedule, and had borrowed up to their limit to raise the £120,000 overall budget. Happily, the build went with barely a hitch, and they moved in just a few weeks late, having only slightly overspent.
Kevin McCloud thought the building looked rather stark from the outside - the lime render had come up a brighter yellow than expected and the bricks were very red. Inside, however, it was a convincing mix of the rustic and modern.
A green oak frame is a fairly environmentally friendly structure - not polluting to produce, and most commercial oak woods in the UK replant regularly, so nature isn't denuded.
The reclaimed brick adds to the house's green credentials, as does the lime render. And this building scores well on using local skills and locally sourced materials, thus cutting transport costs and helping support the local economy.
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Want to be a self-build guru? Then read on....
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