Grand design for the green generations
Three generations have been involved in creating the unique dwelling that's taken shape on a hilltop above Penistone, as Sarah Crabtree discovered.
IT'S not uncommon for passing walkers, trudging their way along the Pennine Trail, to slow to a stop behind the garden wall of Linda and Roger Brown's home on the outskirts of Thurlstone.
"People stop and have a stare at the house all the time," says Linda, aged 58. "I think most of them like it. We haven't heard anyone say they don't, at any rate!"
The couple's house on Rockside Road is creating quite a stir in the rural village between Sheffield and Barnsley - and no wonder.
With its eco credentials, streamlined curves, 'green' sedum roof, and Canadian red cedar clad walls, it looks nothing like the stone farmhouses, 100-year-old cottages, and 1960s bungalows which otherwise line the narrow country lanes.
In fact, it looks exactly like something that ought to have featured on Channel 4 self-build show Grand Designs.
"We did think about applying to be on there," says Roger, 62, modestly. "I don't know why we didn't, really. We will probably enter it into the Grand Designs awards later this year."
The story behind the house - a labour of love involving three generations - is certainly the kind of thing that would have caught presenter Kevin McCloud's imagination.
The land on which the house now stands - up a steep driveway, off a country road, with sweeping views across the valley - used to belong to Roger's father, George, a miner who grew fruit and vegetables next to his tiny bungalow in between shifts at Dodworth Colliery.
After George's death, aged 90, in 2004, the bungalow stood empty and, on Roger's retirement, plans were drawn up for it to be replaced by an eco-house, designed by Roger's architect son, Andrew, 33.
The house was then built, almost single-handedly, by Roger himself, as a place for he and Linda to retire to - and during the build the newly-retired couple lived on site for two years in a cramped and cold caravan, with their lifetime's possessions in storage.
It's not just the family connection that makes the house so fascinating as the fact Roger - who until retirement ran Roger Brown Victorian Lighting in Penistone with Linda - isn't even a builder.
While he has a background in engineering, and his hands-on manufacturing firm exhibited at national flower shows like Chelsea and Tatton, the most building work he had ever attempted before was an extension - a far cry from interpreting modern architectural drawings, sourcing materials from around the world, and building the eco house from scratch.
"The only contractors involved at all were electricians, and a plumber for the gas," admits Roger. "Linda mixed most of the cement, carrying it to me in buckets, and she drove the tractor.
"But it's really very easy these days, sourcing materials and so on. Google is a wonderful thing. Whatever it is you want to find or read up about, someone somewhere has written about it on the internet."
Andrew's brief was for an environmentally-friendly home with three bedrooms, a study, a kitchen-diner, and a living room which took in the views.
Linda wanted an 'upside down' layout, with the bedrooms downstairs and the main living area upstairs.
Roger says: "We wanted to do something a bit different, especially if we were going to build it ourselves. We didn't just want a standard square house with a slate roof."
Andrew's aim was to design the house so it complemented its rural surroundings - so it was modern but also 'contextual'.
"The inspiration for the curved, sedum-covered, roof came from the hills," he says. "When you view the house from the back, particularly, you can see how it really fits into the landscape."
Sensibly, Roger didn't set himself a rigid schedule - "that way I didn't have any problems with not meeting it!" - but estimated correctly the build would take two years.
Now installed comfortably in their dream home, the couple cheerfully admit they wouldn't think of ever doing it all again.
"Once is enough!" says Linda. "But we're very glad we've done it. We love the big open spaces and the lightness of this house, and we love the views."
Andrew Brown now runs his own Yorkshire-based architectural practice, DesignSpace. Log on to www.
designspacearchitects.co.uk for more details.
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