CASE STUDY


BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS


For Patsy Parr, getting approval and building her first home in her native rural Staffordshire meant overcoming countless hurdles, but project management experience, plus a bit of family knowledge, resulted in an award-winning build


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etting her first step on the property ladder in the village she’d grown up in, with prices out of reach, meant Patsy Parr


needed to do some creative thinking. Seeing her mum build a house a few years prior “opened her eyes to the opportunity,” she explains. “It was inspiring.” Finding a plot wasn’t easy, with land rarely coming on to the market. She says she “never thought land would come up in such a great area.”


It was when out for a run one day that she noticed a plot with an old workshop and stables on it. There was just one catch – it was already sold. “I instantly went to them and said if anything happens please let me know,” Patsy explains. She was fortunate in picking up her phone when a ’withheld’ number called, and heard that the agent was calling everyone on the waiting list to see if they had the credentials to go forward. She had “everything ready to go,” and so managed to get the land. “That was my first lesson in persistence,” Patsy says. Patsy set about putting together vision boards


with the help of an architect, Andrea Millner, who specialises in the design of oak framed houses. Patsy knew this was the material she wanted her house to be built of, to be sympathetic to the land it would be sitting on. “This site is surrounded by oak trees,” explains Patsy. “I took images of oak frame buildings from Pinterest, and the architect agreed it just made sense for the surroundings.”


Patsy worked with two architects over the course of the project – Andrea was “very good at making it look beautiful”, explains Patsy, and Andy Denham from Eclipse Architecture was more involved with the practical side of the design, as well as “holding her hand” through the project management, says Patsy. “Having the two of them together was great.” The house features various changes in level throughout, and Andy ensured details such as head heights


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Seeing her mum build a house a few years prior opened Patsy’s eyes to the opportunity


were considered and taken care of. He also guided Patsy through the project, advising her which subcontractors to arrange and what part of the process should be taken care of next. “It just made sense that they ran alongside each other,” says Patsy.


PLANNING FOR THE WORST Once she had firmly set her heart on a contemporary look, Patsy says she “geared up for a battle,” which is exactly what she ended up with. It took around two and a half years for planning permission to finally be granted. Patsy had a lot of conversations with


family, and received a lot of help from her aunt, a journalist, who helped simplify the overcomplicated planning guidance she encountered online. She also had an appointment with a councillor, which turned was more frustrating than helpful. “They won’t really give you answers, even if you go with really direct questions,” she says. “It’s very vague. That whole stretch I just found extremely frustrating.” She did however encounter another planning officer further down the line who she says was “more helpful.”


As part of her mission to get approval Patsy may/june 2022 HIGH POINT


“Getting the planning by one vote, I’ve never felt as good as that in my entire life!” – Patsy Parr


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