Pastures greener

Having built their previous home themselves Paul and Johanna Suter decided a custom oak frame self-build in a verdant setting was the perfect choice for creating their family home

Having outgrown their previous home, Paul and Johanna Suter made the decision to upscale in order to accommodate their growing family. Their last home was a similar self-build oak frame cottage, that held a huge emotional attachment for the family. "Saying goodbye to it was difficult," says Paul. "The phrase 'it's only bricks and mortar doesn't always apply."

As well as a change in size, the couple felt they wanted to take the opportunity to create something light and open, and which took advantage of wonderful views of surrounding nature.

As previous clients of Border Oak, Paul and Johanna had already built an oak-framed cottage not too far from the new custom-build site in North Herefordshire. "We loved the creative side of building our home -self-building has allowed us to create exactly what we need as a family and for the house to change as the children grow, too," says Paul. Their new home is one of seven bespoke self and custom build plots in a prominent location, within a very desirable village, which the family were already familiar with, having lived not far from it previously.

SMOOTH TRANSITIONS

For the couple, the start of their self-build journey was easy. "Border Oak has a regularly updated plot list on their website to choose from, most of which are ideal for their style of construction," says Paul. Going down this route took away from the stress of finding the plot, not to mention avoiding any potential pitfalls from planning restrictions.

For Border Oak, however, the design and planning process was a complex and protracted one. "Ahuge amount of care and thought went into each individual home, how they related to one another as well as how they assimilated into the historic street scene," explains Merry Albright of Border Oak.

CUSTOM DESIGNS