“Kevin follows the progress made by estate manager Ed Waghorn and his wife Rowena, a couple who live an almost self-sufficient life with their four children on a smallholding in Herefordshire. They have been creating a timber-framed house using recycled materials.”
Ed n Rowena, My name is Greg Thompson from Australia n I have just watched Grand Designs episode about your recycled timber framed house on the hill. 30/1/17.
Please please please tell me that you have finished it n yourselves n your beautiful family are moved in n settled n happy n well n loving life in your new finished home on the hill?
Good energy n love to you all xo
Sincerely Greg from Australia
Their website is worth taking a look at.
It’s not a huge website, but it has more information about their animals, wool, gardens, and their most recent photos taken subsequent to the end of the video. The house looks even better now. The staircase is a huge work of art itself, and the roofing is on.
I look forward to checking back on the progress of this house every year or so, and see how it continues to develop.
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(Suggestion to Owen … Perhaps add their website to the bottom of your blog post if you choose? Feel free to trim off this bottom part of my comment if you want to.)
Here is Ed and Rowena’s website:
http://www.inthehills.org.uk/index.html
I get your point, Owen. I personally agree with you that smaller is better.
However, I also respect big spaces.
Ed and Rowena are building their house their way. No TV commentator constantly badgering them about deadlines, timelines, budgets, and such has deterred them from their vision. If Ed and Rowena have the resources to build a big house, and that’s what they want, who am I to find fault? I would definitely build smaller, or at least build sections, and then expand with additions.
I greatly admire the ability of that family to maintain their obvious mutual affection during this build. That says a great deal about the content of their character, and what they are teaching their children. Perhaps that is the greatest building project on display in this video. Not building the house, but building the character of their family in the midst of a house construction project.
The small shed, just for the kids was a great idea. Young children approaching their teen years definitely need a space where they can be themselves. That structure probably was a huge factor in the overall project.
Another thing I noticed in this video was a gradual education of the TV Commentator. He started out the entire project in a very negative way doubting whether this family could ever finish their project. As time when along, the Commentator began to learn and understand that this family simply approached the building process radically differently from the norm, and it works very well for them. Eventually, he started to get it.
The perception of building … Incorporating it as part of a ongoing lifestyle … is not easy to do. Only when every member of the family buys in can it really succeed. When that all comes together, the results can be outstanding and truly life changing.
Well done. Keep chipping away at it.
The Grand Design shows are really growing on me. The shows are top notch video productions. My main issue is the “grand” part. I’d rather see more simple, affordable homes. A common theme in grand homes (large houses) is cost overruns causing stress and chaos. It adds drama to the shows, but it also highlights how building affordably is so important.