When Christine and her husband, Darren, first saw their plot in May 2018, they decided it had to be theirs within twenty minutes!
The last year as seen them busily constructing their modern, energy-efficient home as they learn all about the technicalities and complexities of self-building. Christine has been documenting the process over on her blog as they carry out as much of the work themselves as they can. We caught up with Christine to hear all about why she decided to self-build and give you an insight into what the self-build process at Graven Hill is like.
Christine and Darren are building a 4-bedroom modern, eco-home using traditional brick and block. Building commenced in August 2019.
“I never wanted to build my own house, but by husband has been really keen for many years. What changed my mind was seeing our very close friends build at Graven Hill and do it successfully. In fact, it was them that influenced us to move to Bicester! Not only would we be closer to our friends but we also really liked the idea of living nearer to both Oxford and London and the convenience that brings.”
“Once we agreed to self-build, we found a plot a couple of days later and it has been all action since then. We officially started our journey at Graven Hill in June 2018 and completed on the foundations in August 2019.
“We have lived in a lot of different homes and carried out a few renovations, experience that has put us in good stead for carrying out work on our self-build project. Our last home was a small terraced house in Nottingham that we completely gutted, prior to that, we lived in a studio flat in Brighton, that we also completely renovated, and before that, we lived for three years in a camper van and travelled all over Europe in it.”
“One of the main barriers to building our own home was lack of experience, we’ve never built a house before. However, the process at Graven Hill was straightforward so we haven’t required additional support. We are trying to cut down cost, another barrier, by doing as much work as we can ourselves, it’s great that Graven Hill provides this flexibility. We have also found building outdoors through winter a challenge, but it’s all worthwhile to end up with a home that is perfect for us.”
“The best advice that I could give other self-builders is to build the house of your own dreams, and not to be afraid to personalise it. Try not to be swayed by other opinions, and just go for it!”
To find out more about how Christine’s self-build home is progressing, be sure to visit her blog and follow along. If you are interested in self-building your own home at Graven Hill, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the team. And don’t forget, as part of our summer deals incentives, we’re offering £2,500 towards your Golden Brick foundations when you reserve your self-build plot by the end of July.
Images used courtesy of Graven Hill self-build resident, Christine Adams.