Off the grid: Building a house with the dream of being self-sufficient.

It’s a house that needs its own water, power and sewerage system but Canadian designer Sarah Richardson has a big vision for building her dream home in the series Sarah Off The Grid, as Cass Marrett finds.

Designer Sarah Richardson (second from right, above with her family) is a busy woman.

The leading light in the Canadian home design world has more than 250 episodes of design TV shows under her belt, a family to run, and a thriving design business to develop. But now she’s back in the TV forefront going ‘off the grid’ to put her dream home on the map.

In her new series, Sarah Off The Grid, the entrepreneur tries to build an old-American-style home unreliant on municipal services.

“You have to find your own water with a well, you have to have a septic field to handle all of your waste, you need to somehow generate power,” Richardson says.

That’s left up to her husband Alex to solve as self-proclaimed ‘minister of exteriors’ and while the pair take on the challenge of being their own general contractors, for Sarah, it is what’s on the inside that counts.

“I like my interiors the way I like my people – fun, but without being overpowering,” she says.

Liveable luxury, casual elegance and practical glamour are paradoxes that mark the charm of a Sarah Richardson home design.

She wanted all parts of the home to be useful – including the laundry.

“It doubles as my office and a craft space for the kids because we’re not doing laundry seven days a week.”

Her two daughters – Robin, 12, and Fiona, 9 – even got to weigh in.

“If you think about it ... kids, they’re not given a lot of control,” Richardson says. “So I think it’s really important to give the kids a space they can feel is theirs.”

Grown-ups have a place too – the classically inspired belvedere looking out over their isolated Creemore property. But it’s the kitchen that stole Sarah’s heart.

“I can look to the west and see the sun, the sunset or the views out to the valley. I can look through the dining room all the way through and see the fire glowing in the fireplace and all the way through the sunroom.”

This may have been her biggest project yet, but will Sarah still be on the lookout for the next adventure?

“I could build that house again in a heartbeat – or a bigger one.”