After time spent living in a charming, single-glazed 600-year-old thatched cottage, Peter and Romney Lelliott decided to build a new energy-efficient home to meet their needs. "I was approaching retirement, when my business partner spotted a rundown brick and flint property advertised in the paper," explains Peter.
HOMEOWNERS Peter and Romney Lelliott
PROFESSIONS Romney is a midwife and Peter is a retired software executive
HOUSE Detached two-storey fourbedroom house
SIZE 290m²
LOCATION Wiltshire
PROJECT Self-build
BUILD ROUTE Builder, subcontractors, and DIY
BUILD TIME Thirteen months
PLOT COST £730,000
BUILD COST £850,000
CURRENT VALUE £2.5 million+
WORDS Debbie Jeffery
PHOTOGRAPHY Mark Ashbee
"We hadn't really been looking for a plot, but the owners of the house had already applied for planning permission to either extend it or build a replacement. Although the building was too small for our needs, the three-quarter-acre garden and amazing view convinced us to make an offer. On a clear day you can see for around 40 miles over farmland to the Isle of Wight."
Set on the edge of a picturesque village, in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border, the property was purchased in 2018 and there followed a lengthy series of planning applications and appeals, lasting more than a year.
AN EVOLVING DESIGN
This story is from the August 2023 edition of Homebuilding & Renovating.
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This story is from the August 2023 edition of Homebuilding & Renovating.
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