Despite the battles and hurdles, Mark and Sharon had to make very few compromises on their initial designs
INTERIOR Mark and Sharon knew they wanted the house’s interior to be very contemporary. Wooden and tiled flooring features throughout, and they installed a black, contemporary kitchen. At the centre of the open plan living space is a modern wooden staircase with glass balustrades and lights.
The house is L-shaped, with the longest part downstairs accommodating the large open plan kitchen/dining/living area, plus a separate living room with a vaulted ceiling – another of the architect’s ideas. “The ceiling is one of the nicest bits, it makes the room feel huge,” says Mark. The shorter part of the ‘L’ includes the single storey main entrance and hallway, a utility room, wetroom, double garage, and an additional staircase. “The architect linked the utility and hall to join the garage to the house,” he explains. “It’s a very clever design with a flat roof and overhanging front and back which creates a natural porch.” There are also 4.5 m wide sliding doors and full
floor-to-ceiling height windows, which Mark says are one of his favourite features. The aluclad doors from Eximia Glazing “give a warmer finish inside.”
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Upstairs houses four substantial double
bedrooms, all with their own ensuite bathroom. One of these sits above the double garage, accessed via the additional staircase, and is, says Mark, “effectively like a flat.” While the layout of the last home wasn’t right, this is “much better for our family,” he adds. When it came to technology, they chose to include Lutron lighting – controllable from their mobile phones – and have ethernet throughout via a central server. They also installed what is a must-have for them having had one in every house, an inbuilt vacuum system – “it should be more popular than it is.”An alarm and full camera is also installed. Mark has also learned to spot the various
project potholes before he hits them. “You gain experience in every aspect, you know what problems to look out for,” he says. “From digging out to footings to first fix and second fix, even where you haven’t put sockets before where you should.”
The house sits within 13 acres of land so there’s still a substantial amount of landscaping to do. With the help of a local carpenter, Mark and Sharon have built shepherd’s huts on part of the land which they’ll run as holiday lets. “It’s got a lot of potential, but it’s a big site,” Mark says. He also plans to eventually apply for a triple car port, but says for now “I’ll give the planners a rest!” Despite his love for self-build, Mark admits it’s “not for the faint-hearted” and the family intend to stay in this house for the foreseeable future – though he doesn’t completely rule out another project one day. “I expect I’ll do one more at some point,” he says. “You need a bit of a rest. To keep doing them back to back would be very stressful, and tiring!”
MARK’S ADVICE
• “Don’t rush the planning and design stage – even if it means asking for plans to be redrawn at extra cost. To change things once you’ve got planning is full of problems. Spend time on the site layout and elevation, it’s so important.” • “Consider the construction method – ICF has got to grow in this country; we have to think about alternatives to timber.” • “Do a lot of research and speak to companies, especially when it comes to window and door suppliers – it’s a minefield, and costs vary dramatically.”
may/june 2022
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