Oak frame homes, with their unparalleled charm and unique characteristics, are without a doubt one of the most popular self-build in the country.
Building an oak frame home is the dream for many self builders. It offers instant personality and is suited to both traditional and contemporary designs, and the frame can be exposed both internally and externally depending on the aesthetic you are aiming for.
Here are some of the best oak frame homes in the UK of all shapes, sizes and budgets — including the UK’s first oak frame Passivhaus and an oak frame home which cost £200k.
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1. A Contemporary Oak Frame Home
Oak frames are built off-site and delivered to site where they are assembled relatively quickly. Combined with structural insulated panels (SIPs) or infill panels, oak frame homes can also offer impressive airtightness.
Homeowners Michael and Penny Young chose oak frame to build their forever home in Coventry after falling in love with Oakwrights' designs. The company's own encapsulation systems offers a sustainable and efficient home.
2. An Oak Framed House Built in a Small Cottage Style
While modern oak frame constructions can look like anything from grand manor houses to contemporary mansions, there is definitely something to be said of a more modest, cottage-style build that can fit to a smaller budget.
Border Oak's predesigned Pearmain Cottage was chosen by Ian and Mary Cartwright was adapted to their desire for a modern and open-plan interior, while still offering a quintessentially classic oak look to the outside.
They also chose to add a matching oak framed garage alongside their property.
3. A Timeless Home Built with Oak Frame
Anthony and Liz Lewis beautifully married the elegance of oak with modern indoor-outdoor living and styles in their self-build.
The front of the house provides a traditional brick farm-house appearance, while the rear includes large expanses of bifold doors leading to a contemporary kitchen.
4. An Oak Family Home Built For £265K
Wendy and Steve Hunter bought a plot which already had planning permission for a Border Oak-designed dwelling from the company themselves, working with specialists to amend the design slightly to suit them as a family.
Costs were kept to a minimum by the couple taking on much of the second fix work themselves and mixing high-quality materials with off-the-shelf fixtures.
(MORE: 15 Ways to Make Sure You Stay on Budget)
5. Single Storey Oak Frame Home
Homeowners Sheila and Geoff McGaughey never expected to build a bungalow, but working closely with Border Oak, came up with a great oak frame design that they can enjoy in their retirement.
6. UK’s First Oak Frame Passivhaus
This high-spec eco home is also the first oak frame Passivhaus-certified property in the UK. Located in Yorkshire, this 200m² home was built for £450,000.
7. Oak Frame Home on Greenbelt Plot
This one-and-a-half storey home with two bedrooms has been built in oak frame and SIPs and is clad in cedar.
8. A Contemporary Oak Frame Design Clad in Timber
The exposed frame of this self build, designed by Oakwrights, sits alongside playful contemporary touches such as zoned open-plan living, an open tread staircase and a glass floor.
9. A Contemporary Coastal Home Built with an Oak Frame
Following a visit to Oakwrights’ Herefordshire factory, one couple worked with their architect to create a design for a holiday home on the coast which blends characterful touches with modern appeal.
10. Oak Frame Cottage Built for £200k
Built for only £200,000 with a frame from Border Oak, this cottage-style oak frame property was designed to fit in with the surrounding traditional village.
11. An Oak Frame Self Build on a Sloping Site
Modern methods of construction and energy efficiency have been combined with traditional green oak framing (from Welsh Oak Frame) and materials to create this new rural home.
12. An Oak Frame Home by the Lake
On a historic walled garden plot, this design is set into a slope to minimise external volume. Frame by Oakwrights, externally clad in Siberian Larch.
13. A Traditional Oak Replacement Dwelling
Replacing a fire-damaged cottage, this sympathetic new build is clad in a blend of reclaimed stone (with the front elevation, overleaf, clad entirely in stone), recovered from the demolished cottage, and render.
14. A Barn-Style Oak Frame Home
Designed to be sensitive to the rural locality, a barn-style home was constructed using a post and beam green oak frame, including a projecting glazed gable end.
15. A Woodland Retreat Constructed with Oak Frame
An oak framed future-proof house, on a wooded semi-rural plot, has been meticulously designed and crafted so as to become a home for life.
16. An Open Plan Barn-Style Oak Home
A barn-style home bridges the gap between contemporary and traditional design, while a limited palette of materials blends with the rural landscape.
17. A Curved Oak Frame Home
This modern property was designed by George Batterham of Batterham Matthews Design, combining a timber frame with glazing and dry stone-effect walls.
(MORE: 10 Stylish Contemporary Oak Frame Homes)
18. An Oak Frame Country House
Spanning 790m2, this large country house, designed by Jeremy Rawlings with frame by Oakwrights, creates architectural ‘wow’ with double-height ceilings.
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