Brian & Loveday Ellis

Convinced by the logic of self building, they came across Potton in one of the magazines and took their first trip to the Potton Show Centre in St Neots, where they immediately liked the Wickhambrook Barn which was under construction at the time.

The couple took advantage of the open events surrounding the build of the Wickhambrook and were able to learn a lot about the different stages of the build over a number of visits. They also attended one of Potton’s Self Build Academy seminars and took a tour of the Potton factory.

“All of this proved really worthwhile and gave us a good insight to the build process and the company itself” said Brian, “we were received very warmly by the Potton staff each time we visited the centre and advice and information was freely available without us feeling pressurised or followed around.”

Viewing the completed barn helped the couple develop firm ideas of what they wanted to incorporate, or modify, on their own barn. To this end, they worked with Sean Adams, Design & Planning Consultant, who helped them achieve their aim to orientate the house in a way would mirror the original at St Neots.

Sean finalised the couple's requirements, came up with the design which they were happy with and submitted the detailed planning application on their behalf.

Brian had intended to project manage the build and built a site office, later to become the Garden room, where he would run things on a daily basis. However due to an unsuspected illness, the couple decided that it would make sense to employ a builder to carry out all of the work.

“This turned out to be the right decision and we appointed a construction management company to run the whole project” said Brian. “For us the deciding factor was the builder’s idea that we should have regular weekly site meetings to assess progress, so once I had finished my treatment I could make regular visits to site and make good use of the site office!”

Loveday and Brian, having done their homework, knew almost everything that they wanted to incorporate into the build. They chose an air source heat pump to power the under floor heating and 4KW photo voltaic panels that sit very unobtrusively within the slate roof on the garage.

They lived in the bungalow for 6 months until planning permission had been granted and then moved into rented accommodation for a year. The build started in September 2014 and by August 2015 the couple were able to move in to their stunning new home, despite the fact that the builders were still on site adding the final finishing touches. The bathrooms were not finished until the end of their first day in.