decided I don’t have the time or expertise to devote to the project. “They had a project manager there and I had
a word with him afterwards. I had this nagging feeling that if you did it on your own you’d save money on hiring a guy like this, but what if you made a mistake? You’d pay in the long run. It would be a false economy. So I went with him.” In the end, the Richardsons used the Potton
project manager’s experience and network of contacts to complete nearly all the plumbing and electrical work in the house. “Unless you have contacts yourself, or know someone that’s reliable, it is like randomly sticking a pin in the Yellow Pages,” said Bob. On the exterior, the
priority for the project manager was to organ- ise the footings and timbers. “You want a project manager that is building half a dozen of these a year, so he can source materials in bulk and at a better price. We got most of our materials through him at Jewsons.” Bob says there were a few features of the
place, which suited the bucolic setting perfectly. “It just wouldn’t look right in a more modern looking house. Neither would the beams and vaulted ceilings, which make our place all the more special. “I also liked the fact that we have a good
sized lobby immediately off the front door. It means that you can talk to people inside away from the weather, but not in the house. All the rooms can be accessed from the main hall.” The only unforeseen problem was that a
Perhaps the most striking feature of the internal build was the large Inglenook fireplace
nearby property had a large deep-rooted conifer hedge, which forced the Richardson’s builders to go another metre deep on that side of the house; conifers are notorious for suck- ing up water. Still, being located
Waresley designed that needed to be tweaked. “One of the features is that the timber is visible from inside the house and Potton tend to have one or two upright posts in rooms. We decided to hide a lot of the structural uprights in the walls. “For instance, in some of the show houses,
you would have gotten out of bed in the middle of the night and would probably knock yourself out. Or, with the pillars in the bathroom, you’d have to pirouette around the upright when you got off the loo.” Perhaps the most striking feature of the internal build was the large Inglenook fire-
on a farm came in handy for a lot of the grunt work. Farm mach- inery was used for the groundwork, to load the tiles for the roof and the base for the 60 yard driveway. And with the builders
being on a daily rate, it was in Bob’s interest to keep them busy. He was fortunate that the materials could be delivered and stored on site in the farmyard. “It gave us lots of space and meant I could deliver the bricklayers quickly and they didn’t have to lug the bricks from another site. “Among other things, I used my forklift and JCB-style digger, which saved lots of cash.” Bob also talks proudly about the brickwork and tiling effect on the house. “They did a really great job on the roof,
which is very important for a property like this. The roof, dormer windows and valley tiles really make the house.
...continued on page 23 selfbuilder & homemaker
www.sbhonline.eu 21
ALL THE ROOMS, INCLUDING THE KITCHEN, CAN BE ACCESSED FROM THE MAIN HALL
THE HOUSE HAS A GOOD SIZED LOBBY
IMMEDIATELY OFF THE FRONT DOOR. IT MEANS THAT YOU CAN TALK TO PEOPLE INSIDE AWAY FROM THE WEATHER, BUT NOT IN THE HOUSE.
THE FAMILY PRAISES THE JOB DONE, PARTICULARLY ON THE ROOF, WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR A PROPERTY LIKE THIS
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