A Georgian Style Self Build

In theory self-building should get easier the more often you do it, but this, our third major building project, was by far the most complicated yet — largely because it has also been by the far the most ambitious. The house was built in a period style due to its location - an ultra modern home would have looked somewhat out of place in the heart of a village comprised largely of period properties. But we have managed to put a modern twist on this classic design by making the interiors light and spacious, using smart technology throughout the house and adding a modern annexe onto the rear.

Emma and I are both great admirers of the simple, yet formal elegance of 18th century houses, but with the price tag for an original rectory or farmhouse around Oxford starting at £1.5m, even unmodernised, it was both far more realistic and affordable to set about creating what we wanted from scratch.

This was especially the case given that we wanted to create light, spacious, open plan interiors - something that would be difficult to achieve by remodelling an old property that would, very likely, be protected by listed status.

New houses built in period style are often derided by architectural critics, but I subscribe to the view that everything has its place, and rarely is there a stronger case for a new ‘old' house than in the heart of a village comprised largely of period properties, and adjacent to a Conservation Area. In planning terms, ours was a ‘sensitive' site.

Having already lived in the village for several years, and with plans to settle there for the foreseeable future, Emma and I were keen to create something in keeping and not too controversial with the neighbours, and so spent a great deal of time researching the proportions and details of local houses and rectories, and then trying to get the elevations to work around our ideas of the perfect floorplan for family living.

At the back of the house, however, where the site is very private and less contentious in planning terms, we wanted to create something strikingly modern: a glass dining room with a minimal structure and floor-to-ceiling glass to create an apparently seamless flow of space between inside and out - a room that would make the most of the south-facing views over the one-and- a-half acres of gardens and orchard, and the Berkshire Downs beyond.

More than any other part of the project, it was this - the glass and steel annexe - that proved the most difficult feature to get right. The main part of the house is built from dense concrete block, with concrete beam and block ground and first floors, and a timber second storey that occupies most of the roof space. Precision is not a prerequisite of this way of building, and even a major discrepancy that saw the two ends of an internal gable wall emerge above first floor level 200mm out of line with one another, was overcome with a little ingenuity: we made the wall 400mm wide to accommodate both ends.

Creating a building in steel and glass, however, where the finished floor both inside and out needs to be exactly level, and the ceiling has to be perfectly flush with the underside of the oversailing flat roof outside, proved an immense challenge. It required precision, forward planning, and the co-ordination of 22 different trades. We could not have achieved this without the help of architect Jonathan Dennis and carpenter - and de facto site foreman - Rob Tipping, who took responsibility on site for making sure each trade sequenced together and got the detail right.

Despite the stress it created, the result is still a joy to me every time I see it - a sleek, modern structure with crisp, clean lines. It is a wonderful room all year round: when the double doors are thrown open in the summer and the kitchen dining room and terrace work as a single space, or when the doors are closed in winter, and we can sit and enjoy a meal in comfort and warmth, yet still somehow feel as if we are sitting out in the frost-covered garden.

If we had any concerns that the juxtaposition of the modern annexe would clash with the formal style of the main house - and we did have a tiny nagging doubt - they were entirely allayed once the building was complete. We feel that the two styles, both of which share common roots in classical architecture, are entirely complementary. Interestingly, this ‘modern extension' has also, unwittingly, added to the deceit that the rest of the house is much older - even the professional valuation surveyor asked if we had extended and remodelled an 18th century house.

Apart from the open plan layout of the kitchen breakfast room, and the contemporary kitchen furniture from Bulthaup, much of the interior design is traditional, but with a modern twist introduced through furniture, accessories and fixtures and fittings. The interiors, all designed by Emma, have the look of an elegant boutique hotel.

Inevitably, if we could turn back the clock there are a few things we would do differently. Perhaps the most frustrating error was a repeat of something we did wrong on our last project: butting up timber and plasterboard in the bathrooms and hoping the thin layer of scrim and plaster over the join wouldn't crack. You cannot stop natural materials such as timber from moving, especially in a damp area such as a bathroom, and so some cosmetic cracks are inevitable. Normally this might not be an issue, but when you have an expensive polished plaster finish intended to look like limestone, it ruins the effect. Next time we will use steel frame stud walling and cement board.

In terms of managing the project, the build was remarkably smooth; although it could have been faster had we employed a main contractor, or project manager, to be on site the whole time. As for whether it would have been worth the additional fees we would have had to pay is debatable.

We did use a main contractor, DCM Builders, to construct the brick and block super-structure, and not only was this part of the build very successful, but the craftsmanship from proprietor, Dave Mill, and his team was superb. The appreciation of the importance of detailing, in particular on the Flemish bond brickwork, was critical in creating the right look.

In previous projects we have left the garden as an afterthought, and we were determined not to make the same mistake again, so we employed a designer, Monique Halloran, and laid out and planted much of the garden as soon as the main building work was complete, several months before moving in. The result is that the garden has had a season longer to establish and therefore already looks great so soon after moving in.

I still want to build another house to use up more of the design ideas inspired by the projects featured in H&R, but Emma has finally persuaded me that this time we should stay put and settle down, particularly for the sake of our three children, Freddie, George and Lily.

I have to admit that it is a wonderful place to live. We are very lucky to have been able to build our way up the housing ladder from a two bedroom flat in London to our dream family home in just a little over ten years. We have stretched ourselves every step of the way to achieve this, financially and emotionally, but it has been worth it. It has all been thanks to self-build.

Further reading:

• A Georgian-style House Built for £150,000
• A Self-built Four Bedroom Georgian Villa
• Restoring and Remodelling a London Georgian Townhouse