a Texas ranch feel, traditional timber cladding and Cotswold stone.”


She adds: “It was also important that inter- nally we have living space that was ‘broken- plan’ rather than open plan. That’s because we needed to be able to zone it a bit so that the space would work for just us two but also for when we had family here to stay.” A local architectural design company helped bring the couple’s ideas and plans into focus but also, crucially, persuaded them to reposi- tion the new-build extension at one end of the ungalow so that it would fill the space provided by demolishing an existing garage. The couple secured the services of a


recommended two-man building team, who also shared the task of project management: “We were very lucky to get them because we were the last house they did before retiring,” says Jules. “Not only were they skilled at the tasks they took on, but they knew the right roofers to get in, and they introduced us to the most amazing electrician – they just had a working lifetime of good contacts that we enefited rom.


WORK BEGINS With the couple continuing to live onsite in the


22 www.sbhonline.co.uk


bungalow, construction work on the extension finally egan in ecemer . While they had een ortunate to find good uilders, they were then unlucky in the timing of their self-build project, as March 2020 brought the first Covid lockdown.


ules says t was a it rightening at first when work stopped because none of us knew what would happen next, but eventually everything got going again in earnest. When the cost of materials then went up, we realised we’d been fortunate once again, because our builders had pre-ordered all the wood and plaster. In fact, we had to hide everything because of all the theft that was going on at building sites around the country.” Although a lot of time was spent chasing various suppliers, construction of the extension didnt suer a serious delay, and was finished in September 2020. Activity shifted in 2021 to significant landscaping, installing wooden decking and stone patio around the house and creating off-road parking space. A wooden shepherd’s hut on wheels, supplied by Dutch company Tuin, was installed next to the house as igels ofice, while a stale lock has also been built for the donkeys. Jules and Nigel’s preference for wood goes


jul/aug 2022


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68