Sliding doors moment
When Chris Wallbank saw a cheap piece of land for sale with views of a power station, he took a risk and decided to buy it and build his own home. It was a risk worth taking, writes Catherine Scott.
CHRIS WALLBANK is a believer in right place, right time and that’s exactly when happened when he heard about a plot of land that was up for sale in Hensall, on the Humberhead Levels. “At the time it had views of Eggborough power station and its eight chimneys, but I’d heard they were closing it and I was right. Three or four years ago, they were demolished. It was a big risk but it paid off. Right place, right time,” he says.
That was back in December 2016 and now he has uninterrupted views of the countryside and a lake full of wildlife – and has more than doubled his money. The self-build gene is in his blood – his mother Annette Wallbank has done three self-build farm house conversions.
“She has been great inspiration, albeit completely different styles of properties compared to mine both outside and in – hers are much more traditional,” says Chris.
Having bought the land for a snip (the original 1970s house had already been demolished), he set about about designing his home using his Photoshop skills. “I started with the size of house I could fit on the plot and once I’d designed what I wanted, I handed it to an architect to make them into working drawings for me.”
After securing planning permission, Chris appointed a local builder and the timber frame went up in a matter of seven or eight weeks. From start to finish, the build took around six months.
He decided to go with a clean and minimal white rendered three-storey modern house which from the front blends with the others on the street, but from the back makes the most of the breathtaking views.
“My idea was to make the most of those views by making the width of the house downstairs completely open plan with a kitchen, living and dining area with sliding doors across the entire width to allow you to dine with the door open and to look across the garden and the lake. We are really lucky we are west facing and so get amazing sunsets right in the middle of the garden.”
Chris didn’t opt for the normal graphite grey sliding doors as he wanted something warmer, so he paid extra to get a customised lighter grey, which he also painted the garage doors in.
The master bedrooms runs above that entire area, once again open plan with floor-to-ceiling sliding doors, an ensuite with bathtub facing the views, dressing room and balcony.
“I wanted to make sure the bed was in the middle of the house looking out over the lake. I spent a lot of time on ladders trying to work out what view I would have,” says Chris.
Downstairs a double-sided fire acts as a divider between the kitchen/dining area and a cosier living room at the front of the house.
“That is probably the most expensive ornament," he jokes. “Being timber framed and with underfloor heating, this house is so warm. You put it on for ten minutes and then end up opening doors just to keep it on because the house is so well insulated.”
A double-height entrance hall with glazed bannisters takes you up to three bedrooms on the first floor and then a further two on the second floor, although at the moment these act as Chris’s office and a cinema/snug room.
He relied heavily on the services of good friend Stuart England (www.se-propertyservices.co.uk) who was responsible for all the bespoke woodwork and joinery, the kitchen, plasterwork (including a Venetian plaster feature wall in the kitchen) and all the outside decking and rendered feature planters.
“Stuart has been on DIY SOS a couple of times and he did well to put up with my keen eye for detail,” says Chris whose minimal colour palette relies heavily on white and a variety of greys including Farrow & Ball's Pavilion and Manor House greys. The warmth and texture comes from his use of wood, in particular mango as well as statement copper and rose gold pieces, especially in the kitchen.
“I love the colour and texture of mango wood. I did get some inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram but I knew I wanted to keep it quite minimal with a Scandi feel. I did toy with going for a colour along one of the walls, such as a dark blue or dark green, but I didn’t want to have to keep redecorating it when I get fed up of it. I wanted to keep it minimal to make the most of the garden where I’ve planted olive trees and lavender – I really didn’t want to detract from the views.
“Most of my interior furnishings are either from a lot of bargain hunting in every HomeSense that Yorkshire has to offer – things like mirrors, the master bedroom dress