iewed from the main road passing through the Worcestershire village of Wyre Piddle, Anchorage seems a modest new home, but this unassuming appearance hides a wonderful secret. For it’s at the ‘rear’ of this self-build that you see the real face, and soul, of the property: a striking two-storey and cantilevered structure built into the bank on a gentle curve of the River Avon.


V


This assivhaus-certifi ed home, in an idyllic location complete with jetty and designed to make the most of solar gain and the riverside views, would be the envy of many, yet there’s a second secret here. That’s because getting to this point is a story that includes some of the obstacles that all self-builders can face and, happily, how they can be overcome. And don’t assume it’s mostly the uninitiated  the fi rst timers  that come up against challenges – Anchorage is Frank Ainscows fi fth self-build project and wife erry Mashford’s fourth.


The plot on a sloping bank and within a conservation area that the couple bought for £180,000 without planning permission in 2020 was always likely to present tests, but the eventual list of ‘glitches’ included opposition from neighbours, planning permission wrangles, fi nancing headaches and three companies signifi cant to the self-build going out of business mid-project. Tim Carter and Tom Locke of Habitat+


Architects have played an invaluable role in helping to navigate a way through all that. erry says: “We knew from experience how important it is to get someone with local knowledge


44


involved, particularly the planning side of things and local builders.” Tim and Tom’s remit included not only coming up with a design for the couple’s new home that would get planning approval but also project management. “There was a cost involved in asking the architects to do that,” adds erry, “but they were well worth the money.” Initial drawings for the house were constrained to some extent by Passivhaus-standard insulation requirements, but Frank reveals: “We thought that could still be achieved with something more architecturally interesting.”


He adds: “I mentioned I was a fan of American


architect Frank Lloyd Wright whose most famous work, called Fallingwater, is built partly over a waterfall. Next thing I knew there was a plan on the table with an overhang.” The fi rst application for planning permission was submitted in June 2021, but a year later there was still no approval. After Frank wrote a “pleading” letter to the head of planning, the couple discovered the stumbling block was not the south-facing riverside design but the roadside front of the house, which was not deemed to fi t in with the look of the village. A revised design was eventually given the go-ahead by the local authority’s planning committee with Tim making a presentation for his clients. erry admits “Its virtually impossible to represent yourself when you personally have so much at stake. Tim was excellent.” However, opponents of the couple’s self- build scheme claimed an error in the plans over the proximity of the new house to an existing building invalidated that planning consent. As a result, rank and erry had to go through


LOW POINT


“There were probably two moments: one was the fi rst construction quote, which left us fearing we couldn’t afford to build the house, while the second was having to go through the whole planning process a second time because of an OS map error.”


HIGH POINT


“Seeing the excavation completed without collapse was one high point! Another was fi nally getting our drains connected after a series of unfulfi lled promises from contractors.”


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