For 19 years, Richard and Sheila Hope had lived happily in the same 1930s, four bedroom house in the rural market town of Crowborough in East Sussex. Their daughters, Charlotte and Sarah, had grown up there and together the family had made many friends in the area. Richard and Sheila were not planning to move, until one day some friends happened to mention they were planning to sell off part of their large garden as a building plot.

Finding the perfect plot and choosing to build with oak

“We all live along the same road, so buying the plot only meant moving a short distance,” says Sheila. “It seemed like too good an opportunity to miss; particularly as it meant that we’d have friendly neighbours living right next door. I knew immediately that we should buy it and build ourselves a new house there.”

The piece of land measured just less than half an acre and was completely overgrown when the Hope’s first saw it, making it difficult to see the full extent of the plot. Outline planning permission had already been secured for a new house, however, the couple had definite ideas about the kind of home they wanted to build.

“A friend of ours specialises in designing green oak frame houses,” explains Sheila. “We loved the idea of building with oak, and although we conveyed what we needed in terms of rooms, we left everything else up to Julian. He had a free hand regarding the look of the house and came up with a barn-style design with weatherboarding which perfectly suited our site.

It took a few months longer for us to sell our house than we’d anticipated,” recalls Sheila, “so finally breaking through the garden wall to access our plot felt like a major step. The land was cleared and a new driveway made. After that, we turned our attention to landscaping the garden and digging out a pond while we waited for our oak frame to be delivered.”

Key design features

Richard and Sheila made very few alterations to Julian’s initial sketches, only changing the position of an en-suite bathroom upstairs in order to slightly enlarge Sheila’s home office.

The house has been designed to accommodate the sloping nature of the site by forming split-level accommodation, with steps leading up from the hallway into their dining room, which is partially open-plan to their neighbouring sitting room. Upstairs, the same arrangement also effectively divides the first floor into two distinct levels.

“I found designing the interiors fairly easy,” says Sheila. “We bought some rusted outdoor lights, which gave me the idea of using similar handmade ironwork light fittings indoors. I visited showrooms because I like to see and touch things before I buy them, and once I’d started on a theme, I just continued it throughout the house. I wanted to keep everything as simple and natural as possible, to allow our oak frame design to make a really strong statement.”

The Hopes’ frame had been sandblasted, and it was Richard who then cleaned off the timbers with oxalic acid once the house had been plastered, bringing out the natural colour of the golden wood. Additional oak features such as the doors, skirting and architraves can be admired within every room, and were handcrafted and then fitted by a joiner friend. Richard and Sheila’s sweeping oak staircase in the hallway is simply detailed, and even the free-standing bath in the family bathroom has been customised to stand on solid blocks of natural oak.

“ I wanted to keep everything as simple and natural as possible, to allow our oak frame design to make a really strong statement. „

Sheila Hope

A true self-build project

“I’m a chartered surveyor by profession and co-director of a building company, but this is the first time that I’ve built my own house,” explains Richard. “I was keen to act as a project manager and to take on some of the work myself, including keeping the site clean and tidy. Sheila also enjoyed getting involved, and we’re both pretty well organised so there were no rows or disagreements during the build; despite the fact we were putting in long hours before and after work.”

The couple thoroughly enjoyed their project and struggle to recall any low points during the nine-month build.

“Many of the tradesmen we used were friends and everyone just got on with the job,” says Richard. “There was only one sticky moment when some neighbours wrongly believed we weren’t following the approved plans and the enforcement officer was called in, but that was soon cleared up.

Everything about this house is robust and low maintenance. It’s certainly not a fussy home, and visitors always comment on how relaxing it feels. After spending so long in our previous 1930s house we’re just happy to able to put down roots again and enjoy living here after all the hard work,” concludes Richard.