Sailing free

Figuring out how to unlock a neglected seaside plot was the key to success for Stephen and Mandy’s ‘fabric first’ self-build

- Alison Wall

HOMEOWNERS Stephen Ralph and Mandy Summons

LOCATION Essex

BUILD TIME May 2018 - Nov 2020

SIZE 225m2

PLOT COST £90,000 (Oct 2016)

BUILD COST £370,000

After a career spent restoring period properties, Stephen Ralph was looking for a project to take him and his partner Mandy into retirement — and found what he was looking for when he purchased a neglected infill plot near the sea in a coastal town near Harwich in Essex.

To be sure, the narrow slither of sloping land, with no foul drainage connection, was a gamble. Luckily Stephen managed to persuade a neighbour to sell him a slice more land, and figured out how to install pumps to deal with drainage problems. The self-build project was on.

Harvey Norman Architects created the design, a contemporary ‘upside down’ two-bedroomed house with dramatic views over the Harwich shipping channel — Stephen likens it to living in a boat rather than a house. Stand-out features include a second storey crow’s nest viewing platform facing the sea, a generous double height, double aspect open plan living space on the upper ground level, and a sloping roof clad in copper standing seam.