Episode Information Sussex: New England Gable House

Date Published:

13/06/2008

With a plot of land in Sussex overlooking the South Downs, newly-weds Jane and Willem wanted a house that would be atmospheric and open to the countryside. Inspired by memories of America, Jane planned a New England-style gabled house with large windows to make the most of the views.

Before she met and married Willem, she had already decided to buy a 'kit house' - a timber-frame building that is designed and manufactured off-site, then shipped in pieces to the client to be erected. This is a popular form of house building in the United States and the techniques used are highly developed - a far cry from Britain's famous post-war prefabs.

Budget And Build

The Cost

Cost of land: £100,000
Planned budget for build: £150,000 (kit house £60,000, construction of kit £50,000, interior £60,000)
Final cost of build: £170,000

Practical Response

Jane commissioned a Boston-based company to make the house. She worked with them on the design over the internet, and together they created a very American weather-boarded exterior and dramatic internal architecture.

The main features are a vast double-height living area and split levels throughout the rest of the house. (These were a practical response to a sloping site, as well as a design feature.) The ground floor is open plan, with a mezzanine and a galleried work area. At the highest point of the house, a spiral staircase leads from the master bedroom to a crow's-nest study.

Because the design was markedly foreign, Jane needed to employ persuasion and a planning consultant before she was given planning permission. And she had to compromise on the roof, substituting grey clay tiles for American shingles.

Exuberance

Once permission was granted, the build itself was comparatively quick. Local contractors dug the foundations and made a concrete base. The kit house arrived with an American builder to oversee its construction, and the team began fixing the sections together.

There were delays. The English team didn't have the high-tech tools used in the US, so it took eight weeks instead of the estimated four to erect the shell. Difficulties with the thick clay tiles slowed work on the roof. Delays usually send budgets soaring, but Jane and Willem had shrewdly agreed a fixed price with their project manager, so he carried the extra cost.

Once the house was structurally complete, they extended the split-level architecture out of doors, with wooden decking and terraces dug into the garden. And exuberance became the keynote of the interior design.

How Green?

To build this house, Jane and Willem demolished a bungalow on the site - an environmentally wasteful process. Their new timber-frame house scores well for being low in materials that are polluting to manufacture, but transporting it from the US meant that there were hidden eco-costs.

Kevin was also worried about the disregard for regionalism and would have liked to have seen the house refer more deeply to its surroundings - not only visually but by using local skills and materials.