Real homes at Graven Hill
House style Two-bedroom detached home
House size 151m2
Project route Self-managed & laboured
Construction cost (excl. land) £234,000
VAT reclaim £30,000
Moved in September 2019
Leaving their quiet village in Northamptonshire, Terry and Olwen Waite set out to create a brand new stand-out home. Their Graven Hill self build was one of the first 10 pioneering projects followed on television in the Grand Designs series, The Street. The eye-catching contemporary home is a far cry from the couple’s previous self build, which was designed to look like a 200-year-old cottage. But semiretired electrical engineer Terry and Olwen, a former tax assistant, wanted to design a house tailored to their own tastes and requirements to the very last detail.
One key objective was to create a low-energy, low-bills property with high thermal mass, which would efficiently retain renewable heat generated by an air source heat pump. To that end, the pair chose to combine the sustainable insulated concrete formwork system from Durisol with a highly insulated steel-clad Thermoroof. “You can think of the house as one big tea cosy,” says Terry. The couple also specified a low-maintenance property, with features that would accommodate them into their autumn years.
Terry and Olwen’s site is a serviced self build plot, with Graven Hill taking care of the Golden Brick foundations (in this case, a reinforced concrete slab). Post-foundations, most of the labour was carried out by the couple, their family, and their good friend Phil Williams, who came over from Canada for a 13-week period. Some aspects, such as glazing and renewable technologies, had to be done by pros to comply with insurance and energy accreditations.
Unsurprisingly, given Terry’s background, the property is replete with gadgets. There is a mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system, underfloor heating, a central vacuum, Alexa-activated smart home automation and fingerprint scan security systems, to name but a few. A faux fire provides a focal point in the living room. The goal of high thermal mass has been achieved with aplomb – internal temperatures fluctuate minimally: only one degree over a 24-hour period, even on cold nights with daytime heating only.
The house is also brimming with forward-thinking features to help the couple live here for years to come. These include flush thresholds between the bifold doors and garden, lowupkeep artificial lawn and raised borders that make for easy planting, complete with automated irrigation. “Fulfilling our dream through hard work has given us a huge sense of achievement,” says Terry. “We’d encourage anyone to do it!.”
House style Four-bedroom detached home Moved in September 2019
After years of renting in Oxford, Greg Simmons and Jonny Stiff chose to buy their first home together at Graven Hill. With Greg commuting to London ] and Jonny working for an airline near Heathrow, the location was ideal. Now Greg can travel directly from Bicester station, he’s taken 15 minutes off his commute, so the couple can make the most of their evenings. “It’s lovely to be surrounded by greenery and open space,” says Jonny. “It’s a countryside setting with city links.”
Having previously lived in a dark Victorian terraced house, the pair were drawn to the contemporary styles at Graven Hill. “We were blown away by the light and airy feel of the custom build homes,” says Greg. “They were so different from what we were used to, both in terms of openness and modernity. Unlike other new build developments, every home at Graven Hill has its own distinctive edge, which is something we really love about living here.” After viewing the site in April 2019, they purchased their plot the following month and were moved in by September. “The process was pretty much effortless from start to finish,” says Greg.
Since then they’ve happily settled into life in their new home and environment. “Even though the site is still young, an amazing community has already been established,” says Jonny. “It’s a place that breeds creativity and individualism, full of unique, yet like-minded people that are as diverse as the houses they live in.”