25 Beautiful Homes – July 2019

B

uildingyourownhomecanbea notoriouslystressful

process,butpropertydeveloperDavidKirkbywas

fullypreparedfortheproblemsthatlayahead.‘Beinga

developermyself,I knowa thingortwoaboutbuilding

ahouse,’hesays.‘I waskeentocreatea weekendboltholefor

myself– a spacethatwouldlenditselftoeasyliving.I had

a visionofcreatinga modern-rusticbarninFrenchoak.’

Firstimpressionsofthesitewerefarfromfavourable,but

Davidwasundeterred.‘Originally,therewasa rundownpig

farmherethathadn’tbeenusedformorethan 60 yearsandit

wasdefinitelyaneyesore,’hesays.‘ButI likedthesurrounding

landandI dolovea challenge,soI decidedtogoahead.’

Davidcompletedthepurchasein 2014 andgotplanning

permissiontobuilda housewithfiveacres,stablesanda manège.

HecalledinarchitecturaltechnologistJasonO’Donnellof

Arktechtofine-tunetheplans.‘I’dbuiltoak-framedhouses

before,butneveronthisscale,’saysDavid.‘I drewthedesign,

andJasonmadeit work.’Davidchosetomakevaultedceilings

andoakbeamskeyfeaturesineveryroom,ensuringcontinuity

ofdesignthroughout.‘I wantedtoseetheframeworkof the

wood,asit waspartofthelookI wasafter,’hesays.

Thebuildtook 10 monthstocomplete.Oncetheoak-framed

structure was in place, underfloor heating was installed, and

DININGAREA

Naturalmaterialstieallofthe

roomelementstogether.

Similardiningchaircovers,

from £40 each, Neptune

KITcHEN

Davidaddedcustomtouches

throughouttheproperty,

includinga winefridge.

HuskyReflectionswinecooler,

£229.99, Currys, is similar

favourite feature

‘Thebeautifullyvisibleoak

framegivesthepropertythe

homely feel I was after’

60 | 25bhJuly 2019