“Once the concrete lorry had been on site to do the foundations, the driver refused to return to do the wall as the access was too difficult” – Andrew


thought – this is what I want.” The brief to architect Andrew Brown was


relatively straightforward, as Siobhan recalls: “We wanted three bedrooms, one with an ensuite, we wanted to make the most of the views, a window in the ensuite shower room, a fire, and to be as eco-friendly as possible. Andrew was already aware of the plot as he and his wife live in the locality about four miles away and knew a bit about the site’s history. “It’s called Spyon Cop, and while there’s no firm eidence as to why, locally the anecdotal suggestion is that the cottage that was originally on the site was built by someone who had returned from the Boer War. (There is a hill called Spion Cop in South Africa where a battle took place – Spyon Cop means Spy Hill in Afrikaans.” The cottage that had been there previously was a pile of rubble when Siobhan and Rory purchased the site, but it was obvious that in its footprint was the best place on the plot to build. “It’s a great location with far reaching views but it’s not for everyone,” says Andrew. “There’s not a proper road to access it; it’s just a farm track.” Access was to provide an issue later in the


68 www.sbhonline.co.uk


build, but the architects Brown  Browns first priority was to find out a bit more about their clients, and their expectations for their new property. Says Siobhan, “At the very start of the process, Andrew set up a Pinterest board for us and he put some things into it – yes we like that, no we hate that, what on earth were you thinking? And we added things we liked. I think he then used that as a template to see what our tastes were, and I think he got a pretty good idea of what we liked very quickly.” Brown & Brown also explained to their clients that they would present two or three concepts but they were not expecting them to go with any of them in their entirety. “It was more a case of ‘we like this from A, that from B and we really don’t like that in C!’ Andrew was also adamant that if we saw a problem, we weren’t to try and solve it.” Siobhan adds: “He said ‘tell me what the problem is, and  will fi it because thats my job.’ We took that on board, and it really opened up the dialogue and made for a very honest relationship.” While Brown & Brown’s brief was straightforward, access to the plot was not as


LOW POINT


“The site was challeng- ing, as was lockdown. Thankfully the roof was on, and the windows were in just before it hit – but it really was an awful time.”


may/jun 2023


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