levels

This photo is of the team who understand the technical data:
Claire, Andy & Steve
Following this photo, we walked a hundred yards up the road to the pub where they gave us use of a table and cups of coffee.

We spread out topographical data, information from the Environment Agency, provisional drawings and Claire's calculator. She tapped on this every time a change was mentioned and came up with finished levels.

Visitors will be glad to know that we will build above the level calculated by the Environment Agency as a one-in-a-millenium flood risk (even factoring in climate change).

From a design point of view we have to decide on how to make sure that front access is level, and that planners will like the finished height of the building.
This plot has more slopes than Chamonix: it slopes along the High Street, it slopes up towards the river then down. Claire & Steve talked about how much earth will have to be moved, and where, to accomodate different designs.

We are re-thinking our "upside-down" house: Part M of building regulations says that we must have wheelchair access to the main living floor of the building, which would mean building up a lot - expensive and unsightly.
If we were to have the ground floor as our main living area, it remains a pleasant view, and means we can walk out directly in to the garden.
Back to the drawing board! Actually, it's the Grand Designs CAD package.
Luckily we are in no hurry.

designs and names

This photo is from the opposite river bank and shows our plot, bounded by the fence that Terry has just put up for us.
Keith has been drawing out designs, and now Pottons have made them into a first draft that we have been poring over all weekend.
It's difficult for some of us to imagine how a blue-print will look in real life, so Keith has made 3D images on the Grand Designs CAD package, but I'm not publishing them until we've made a few more alterations!
Our house must have a name, as there are no numbers in Denford High Street. Neither of us has ever lived in a house with a name (unless you count Keith's school).
We're imaging saying the name to call centre staff - but maybe any name sounds daft when you're spelling it over the phone.
Many years ago, our friend Lucy, who knows her art, gave us a print of The Bright House by August Macke, which we love. Is this just too obvious?
Keeping it simple, we remembered that in Suffolk, Keith used to work at The Surgery, The Street, Holbrook. If we adopted this approach, we could call it The New House. We probably don't need to worry about it dating - we still drive over the New Bridge to Irthlingborough (built 1936)
As a child, Keith used to play in a stream called the Minnehaha, and we wondered if we could call the house Laughing Water, although it is so sedate that Mildly Amused Water might be more appropriate.
I've been re-reading John Clare's poetry which I loved as a child, especially his "Proposal on Building a Cottage" but it doesn't help on finding a house name.
Anyway, we have until the footings are dug to ponder all the ideas!

This picture is taken from what will be the front of our house, looking across the High Street. Our plot will run from the centre of the driveway to the large tree on the right. Our new garage will be where the right hand white door is.
We hope to level the mound of earth, and plant bushes along the road boundary.

For a few years now, we have subscribed to Home Building & Renovating Magazine, and have been to their exhibitions, gathering lots of useful information.
Next weekend we are going to the latest one at Harrogate, this time with some specific questions about things that will affect the design of our house.

We know that we are going to have a heavily insulated timber-frame house, with a heat recovery & ventilation system.
We are considering a wood-burning stove.
We also have to think about the large glass doors that will open on to the balcony. An expanse of glass like that, with a low u value will take a good chunk of our budget.
We shall have to install a rain water harvesting system ( to meet building regulations)
We want to look at Smart Home technology.

designing

This picture is taken from where the house begins and it will end near the pigsty that you can see as an overgrown brick wall.

Yesterday we met with Andy from Potton, and Steve, our project manager for the initial build. We looked at the survey information, talked about foundations, and set out a time line. I know that in a year's time this may seem like a work of fiction, but here goes:

November 2009: initial drawings, followed by changes from us and discussion with neighbours.
January 2010: submit for planning approval
April 2010: planning should be finalised, and the kit ordered.
May 2010: foundations begin
June - July 2010: the house goes up!
October 2010: watertight, and we take over.

We don't want to make any major changes to the design that received planning permission, but we want to make some internal changes, including plenty of space for you all to park and sleep when you come to visit!

Main / upper floor rooms:

Lobby with space for coats, boots etc.
Shower / wetroom
Utility room with electrical centre
Study / sewing room – this will need to take a sofa bed & plenty of storage.
Open plan: lounge / dining area / kitchen

The main sitting area should be to the northwest aspect, with glazed folding doors, leading to the balcony.

Balcony: 3 metres deep (maximum planner will allow, original permission was for 2m.)

Lower ground floor:
Planners are happy for us to extend by 1 metre (under new balcony)

Rooms:
Master bedroom with shower / wetroom + walk-in wardrobe if possible.
Bed: 6 foot width
Glazed door in place of window
3 spare bedrooms:
2 must take a double ( 5 foot) bed with some space on either side (400-420mm. is enough)
The other could take twin beds, in which case they can be against the wall
Shower / wetroom
Linen store if possible

Attic / loft:
This should not compromise the main living area, and we’re not sure if it is possible, but we would like a “gallery” for bookcases, with door access to loft storage area.
We do not want a tight spiral staircase, or one that gets in the way of the aspect of the main floor.
Building control say that if we have this, we must fit a fire door to the bottom of the downstairs staircase.
Planning are happy with an escape window to the front of the house.

Roof:
We want to consider solar panels on the roof, so should include them in the planning application.

Front aspect:
We want to get rid of the mound that is part of the front, and maximise the car parking space.

planning

Our plot comes with planning permission for a house very close to the one we would design. But of course we want to make a few minor changes, so yesterday I met with one of the planning officers at East Northants Council. He was very helpful, and next we meet with a designer from Potton to draw up more plans.
We need plenty of car parking for all our visitors, as there isn't much space on the road in Denford, however, we mustn't make the area in front of the house look like a car park.

We are wondering how best to fit the staircase into the house, and whether we can afford the space to take a proper staircase up to the loft - if we could then we could have a "gallery" for all our books; otherwise, as all of our friends know, we shall have bookshelves on almost every wall!

I also met with Terry (my cousin Margaret's husband) who is going to put the fence up for us, now we have permission from the Environment Agency. It was a beautiful day, and we gathered hazelnuts from our own trees!
The picture shows our little stretch of the river, from the white post in the foreground, to the trees.

Some environmentalists have wondered if we coukd generate hydro-electricity. I gather that you need a drop of 2 metres to do so, and I am not sure if the River Nene drops by that much over its entire length!
It is pronounced by the way "Nenn"; by the time it reaches Cambridgeshire it is the "Neen", but west of Thrapston, it is defintely the "Nenn"!
H.E.Bates, best known for his Larkin novels, set in Kent, was born nearby and wrote a lovely book called Down the River, celebrating the Nene, and its Bedfordshire sister, the Ouse.

Technical stuff

Our plot is about 14m. wide and 55m. long,total about 0.17acres or 0.7 hectares. It has detailed planning permission for a house of about 1700 square feet / 170 square metres.
We need to make some changes to the house as it is designed, both to comply with Building Regulations Part M (disabled access) and a few minor things.

We want to keep the upper floor as main living area, and a balcony running the width of the house (about 8m.) overlooking the river.
We shall be building a Potton timber framed house, and have been to their factory in Great Gransden where the panels are built - it is quite a sight!

We have "riparian rights" which means we can fish, and have to take responsibility for anything that happens up to the middle of the river. The river is a tributary of the River Nene which can just be seen in our photo below, about 200 yards away. The neighbours tell us we can get a small boat down to join up with the main river, and make a jaunt to a riverside pub.
There is a nice pub in the village, where I think we may be spending a lot of time!

We have had to get permission from the Environment Agency to build the boundary fence, and that will go up in the next month or so.

Now we are getting interested in the heating and lighting of the building, and making sure that it is as energy efficient as possible (Keith says that if Jacky learned to switch off lights it would be helpful!)
Our friend Nigel, who works for The Energy Saving Trust has helped us with information about ground source heat pumps (not worthwhile if you can use gas). Now to consider solar panels.

The site has now had a topographical survey, to help us decide how to organise the build. We shall have our lounge, kitchen & dining area upstairs, with a balcony the width of the house, to take advantage of the view.
We are learning about green technologies, from solar panels to whole house heating & ventilation systems. Thanks to the Centre for Alternative Technology for all their sensible advice.

The view

Our new neighbours, Peter & Sheila Fairweather, asked us to a party to meet our new neighbours in Denford. It was a lovely day, with very good cheese & home-baked bread, and we were made very welcome

Finding the plot

We had been looking at plots - just theoretically, for some time, learning about planning issues and thinking about what kind of build would suit us, and where we would like to live.
We would have enough money saved in July 2009, and we thought it might take a couple of years or so to find the right plot in the right place.
One Saturday at the end of June, we were at The Raven in Hexton, having lunch with Neil, Duncan & Katie; we talked about looking for a plot, and called round at a couple of possibilities in the Barton area, neither of which would suit us.
When we got home, an envelope from Bletsoes in Thrapston, Northants, was waiting for us, and inside was what looked like our ideal plot, in Denford.

On the Sunday, we went up to see it informally, on our way to visit Derick (Jacky's dad lives 15 mins. drive away from Denford). The plot runs from Denford High St. down to a tributary of the River Nene. Opposite are flood meadows and a footpath. We walked along the path, looking over at the plot, and knew this was the one. Further along, one of the gardens had a small landing area, and a small boy was stepping down to join someone (his dad?) in a small boat.
A few houses along from the plot, where the road and river meet, there is a war memorial with some seats, where you can sit and look over at the river and wildlife.
We arranged to meet the estate agents, and the Fairweathers at South Reach, who were selling part of their garden; we put in a bid; were accepted; instructed solicitors; and now we own "land adjacent to South Reach"

The Bright House

For some years we have had the ambition to build out own house. About 4 years ago we began to visit building exhibitions, read magazines: http://www.homebuilding.co.uk/ and look, theoretically, at likely plots: http://www.buildstore.co.uk/findingland/

Thanks to Angela & Nigel for the house building book as well!