A NATURAL CHRISTMAS

Merry and Ben Albright's new oak-framed Herefordshire home blends tradition and modernity in a flow of extravagant spaces - the perfect backdrop for a rural Christmas scene

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For the Albright family, Christmas is a favourite time of year- and now that they are in their dream home, it's a time for the family to get together and celebrate. Finding the right house proved to be a difficult task, however, which was why they decided to build their home from scratch, giving the family a home that catered for all their needs.

Tucked away in a remote and unspoilt corner of north Herefordshire, where Merry was born and raised, she and her husband Ben found the perfect site. Surrounded by open fields with views of distant hills, and a brook at the end of the garden, it was hugely appealing. Merry is the daughter of John Greene, the architect who set up Border Oak, famous for bespoke oak-framed buildings, and the couple planned to create a super-contemporary Border Oak wood frame.

'We thought something a little bit cutting edge would secure planning. But we were wrong,' she says. Back at the drawing board, they designed a house on ultra-traditional lines - and the planners turned this down as well.