Self-build projects

Kevin and Sarah Flowers’ striking self-build makes the very most of its enviable coastal setting, with extensive glazing, an open plan layout and outdoor spaces. By using partial room dividers where necessary, the couple have created interiors with clearly defined areas that still flow into one another.

Gail and David Webb's sloping garden has provided a picturesque - but somewhat challenging - coastal location for their new energy-efficient home, but it's all paid off as a balcony with frameless glass balustrades allow uninterrupted views over the Cornish coast.

Simon and Karin Grainger’s distinctive home on a sensitive infill site
took some ten years from conception to completion. Its highly indvidual design includes a clocktower, balcony and reconstituted stone detail.

James and Diana France have self-built a retirement home – next to their former period house – oriented entirely around their lifestyle. The house is built largely on one level and includes an entire wall of bookshelves built to house their extensive collection.

Laura Fennell and Alison Richards have built a modern ranch-style home designed to make the most of views over the surrounding countryside.

When Bob Bull and Edith Wellman decided to buy a two bedroom holiday home in the sleepy riverside village of Dittisham, the property was already well known to Bob, who had previously owned and sold it on ten years earlier.

Winner of Best Contemporary Home in the 2009 Homebuilding & Renovating Awards. With stunning views over the Exe Estuary and a contemporary home conceived by probably the UK’s leading house designer — who wouldn’t feel just a little bit jealous of Peter and Sue Salter?

Mark and Sam Benbow have built a magnificent oak framed farmhouse in a Herefordshire village including a traditional porch and jetty and a chimney stack built from locally sourced reclaimed stone and brick. The finished property perfectly marries traditional craftsmanship with modern build technologies.

Peter and Sue Salter have built an award-winning contemporary home with beautiful views over the Exe Estuary. You can read all about the self-build in the February issue of Homebuilding & Renovating, but as part of H&R Extra, here are some additional photos of the house.

Winner of Best Traditional-style Home in the 2009 Homebuilding & Renovating Awards. John and Sarah Cullen have built an astonishing new Baronial-style country home in the Highlands complete with turrets, gables, a grand entrance hall, games room, drawing room and many bedrooms.

Winner of Best Eco Home in the Homebuilding & Renovating Awards 2009. Don and Lorna McLean’s new self-built home in the Glasgow suburbs combines perfect contemporary looks with cutting-edge energy efficiency. It was built using insulated concrete formwork (ICF) and includes an air-source heat pump which has reduced their energy bills significantly.

Roy and Jilly Taylor have built a Modernist-style home packed with eco features, including geothermal heating, solar panels and greywater recycling, which was designed to take in glorious views of open countryside, and is encircled by a modern moat.

Unwilling to leave their picture-postcard village, Jan and Mike Davies built a pretty, energy-efficient oak frame cottage – clad in brick to match the neighbouring properties – on part of their former garden. Inside, the house includes vaulted ceilings and exposed beams that complement the open plan space.

Roy and Jilly Taylor have built a Modernist-style home packed with eco features. You can read all about this self build in the December 2009 issue of Homebuilding & Renovating, but as part of H&R extra, here are some additional photos of the house.

Patrick and Carol Creagh-Coen have replaced an unloved, badly improved house with a charming new traditional-style cottage despite objections from locals and battles with the planning committee.

Jo and Peter Roberts have built an energy-efficient, eco-friendly house in their garden which proves that saving the planet doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Only a fraction of David and Jaruska Snowden’s West London home is visible to passers-by — the rest is hidden from view below pavement level. And the interiors are just as innovative, including secret doors, a sunken courtyard and dividing walls which also act as storage.

Jo and Peter Roberts have built an energy-efficient, eco-friendly house in their garden which proves that saving the planet doesn’t have to cost the earth. You can read all about this self build in the November issue of Homebuilding & Renovating, but as part of H&R Extra, here are some additional photos of the house.

Patrick and Carol Creagh-Coen have replaced an unloved, badly improved house with a charming new traditional-style cottage.You can read all about this self build in the November issue of Homebuilding & Renovating, but as part of H&R Extra, here are some additional photos of the house.

Winner of Best Traditional Home in the 2005 Homebuilding & Renovating Awards. Peter and Louise Adamson’s new light-filled home combines a perfectly detailed period exterior with simple, elegant open plan interiors.

Julia Kendell and Andrew Hughes-Hallett have created an impressive low-impact, low-maintenance contemporary home on a floodplain site backing onto the River Thames.

Artist, photographer, poet, musician and self-builder, Graham Ovenden believes “it is bad for the soul to be in too much of a hurry” — a good job, as he’s been building his charming dream home for 35 years, on and off.

Neil and Lynda Paton have built a contemporary, eco-friendly home that makes the most of its sloping site with an interesting layout and features extensive areas of glazing.

Matthew and Lesley Borowiecki’s unique eco-friendly home enjoys far-reaching views across London through huge windows, shaded from the sun by distinctive sails.

Roger and Jane Paulson’s first self-build is an extraordinary contemporary-style riverside home built for a very ordinary £1,000/m².

Leah and Richard Allen overcame bats, pregnancy and a dwindling budget to build their stylish new home on the site of Leah’s grandparents’ former home in Devon.

Richard Noble battled for five years to build a hi-tech oak frame home in an idyllic garden setting, combining traditional framing methods with modern materials.

Colin McPherson worked closely with a local builder to put his stamp on a remarkable £50,000 self-built cottage in a dream location.

Robert and Lesley Watson have built a contemporary and environmentally friendly family home with curves in all the right places.

Mark and Liz Ward overcame their fair share of problems in building a beautiful new traditional-style timber frame home in a spectacular woodland setting.