SCENE SETTER
Jess and Andy Fox fulfilled a long-held ambition when they designed and built their own home with spectacular valley views
In designing their dream home, one couple built themselves a front-row seat to the stunning views of the South Wales valleys
Several years ago, Jess and Andy Fox and their children Emily, 19, and James, 15, took on a barn conversion shell and fitted it out themselves. That gave them the taste for a bigger project and reinforced Andy’s long-standing desire to build his own home. ‘We began house-hunting in 2016, because we found where we were living too remote,’ says Andy. ‘We went to look at a house up the road from here and on our way back we passed someone putting up a for sale sign on a bungalow. We didn’t like the house, but we loved its position and view.’
The couple knew immediately that it was the perfect site for their dream home so took the risk of buying it without planning permission. They set to work designing the layout, positioning all of the rooms to look out over the valley, with most opening on to balconies or the garden. ‘We made the downstairs a large, flowing entertaining space and all the bedrooms upstairs en suite, because we often have guests staying and
we didn’t want to be bumping into each other on the landing at night,’ says Jess.
The couple took their ideas to local architects Hall & Bednarczyk, who designed the structure. Then, soon after planning permission was granted the demolition work began. To fund the project and to give himself time to devote to it, Andy sold his shares in his shop-fitting business. He went from being managing director to employee and moved to a four-day week, so he could spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the house.
‘To save on costs, we didn’t use a main contractor,’ he says. ‘Instead, I broke the work into packages. I employed a builder on a weekly basis for the demolition and foundations. A timber-frame company built the main structure and I did nearly everything else.’ The work took 14 months during which the family rented a house nearby. Jess, a former nurse, spent most of this time focusing on the interior. ‘I was busy sourcing the paint, wallpaper, fixtures, fittings and furnishings,’ she says.
‘The bespoke staircase was our one big luxury. And we splashed out on a few key standout pieces, such as the Italian sofas in the sitting room, but almost everything
else came from the high street,’ she adds.
The couple chose a kitchen from Wren, as they had been pleased with one they’d had previously. ‘The quality is great and everything arrives with the door and drawer fronts fitted,’ says Andy. ‘As I installed it, I wanted it to be as simple as possible.’
Jess opted for a light grey backdrop throughout the interior, adding pops of brightness with soft furnishings and accessories. ‘I took inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram,’ she says. ‘I got the idea for the fireplace from Pinterest and Andy built it.’ But while Andy enjoyed being hands-on with the build, he says he would never project-manage again.
‘Whenever something went wrong one of the tradespeople always blamed someone else. If we had used a single contractor it would have been their responsibility and not cost me,’ he says.
Despite the challenges, the family love the result and are now working on the outside space. ‘I’ve built stables and a chicken coop and next we’ll add a small herd of alpacas to the menagerie,’ laughs Andy. Cocker spaniels Barney and Wilson and cats Casper and Mungo may not be so amused!