Home at last

Ian and Louise Armstrong wanted somewhere they could call their forever home and the site they discovered proved the perfect plot to build it on

- 

You could say that Ian and Louise Armstrong have the Homebuilding & Renovating Show to thank for the stunning home they now own. It was after visiting one of the HB&R events held in Birmingham's NEC that the couple became attracted to the idea of an oak frame self-build. 'We fell in love with both the look and the smell of the oak,' says Ian, 'and after talking to the team on the Border Oak stand, we became excited at the thought of building what we knew would be our home for life.'

The first step was to find a suitable site to build on, but logistically, it wasn't that simple - Ian and Louise were living in Dubai at the time so the next three years were spent searching for plots while on trips back to the UK. 'Eventually, through an estate agent, we found a place near Cirencester, which ticked the boxes - south-facing, away from a main road and not too far from the nearest town - and through a process of sealed bids, we were lucky enough to get it,' says Ian.

A FRESH DESIGN

The plot came with planning permission, but the Armstrongs weren't happy with the style of house that had been drawn up. 'We approached Border Oak and asked them to modify the plans and come up with a design for an oak frame self-build, but one that stuck to the footprint of the original plans,' says Ian.