THE BESPOKE HOUSE

A bigger garden, greater seclusion and a light-filled home were all-important to Helen and Victor Day when they built their oak-frame house in Lincolnshire

- CLARE GOGERTY

A yearning for more outside space and privacy prompted Helen and Victor Day to look for a plot on which to build the house of their dreams. ‘We were living in a small village completely surrounded by other houses,’ says Helen.

They didn’t want to move from the neighbourhood where they both grew up, so when Victor came across the perfect plot, they decided there and then this was where they would build their home. The plot was large enough to build a substantial house for themselves and Helen’s parents, while retaining a three-quarter-acre garden. It was also the ideal location to realise Victor’s dream of building an oak-frame house. ‘Victor is a builder by profession,’ she says, ‘but this was his first oak building. An oak-frame house has so much character and felt right for the site and for the country setting.’