Way back in 1995/1996 Deirdre and I decided that our house on the outskirts of the city was getting too small - even although there was just the two of us living in it! The attic was full of what Deirdre described as "my junk", the garage was full of what Deirdre described as "my junk" and the spare room as well! You might as well say the whole house was full of my junk!

The decision was then taken to look for a new house. This we did for the next couple of years but we found "right house, wrong location" or "wrong house, right location".

Then we viewed a house that came into the "right house, wrong location" category and found out that it was what was called a kit-build. On further investigation, Deirdre discovered that it would be easy enough to have one of these houses built but the hard part was finding and procuring land to build it on.

About 2 months later we noticed a plot of land for sale in one of the "right locations" and off we went to see it. We saw a space between two houses which we thought was the plot - it was too small! A week later I was talking to Deirdre's father and mentioned to him that we had looked at a half acre plot and thought it was too small and he looked at me very puzzled. He then took me outside and showed me what half an acre of ground looks like - it was at least 2½ times larger.

Deirdre contacted the sellers and we were given the directions to the right location. Now you have to imagine the rest. It's between Christmas and New Year, it's 1700hrs, pitch black and we set off with Aunt Jessie to have a look at the plot. What we find is an empty field which is pitch black and we cannot see anything - we're in the middle of nowhere! We then park the car so the headlights are shining into the field but they have little impact!

What the field originally looked like before building began

The next day we return and fall in love with this field and it's location. There are actually a few plots up for sale. We speak with the field owner, chose a plot, shake hands and then set the wheels in motion to purchase.

Looking over our plot. Deirdre is dot in background

Basically, what we are getting is 0.46 hectares which is just over an acre at a price of £48K. Try and purchase land at that price now! Half an acre plots are now selling for over £130K and that's before you start to build.

On to the House Design