When Calum & Sally Land found a run-down bungalow in Bath, they decided it was the perfect spot to knock down and rebuild their new home

WORDS ALEXANDRA PRATT

‘‘ With the doors open and family and friends here, it becomes a really sociable space. We never tire of the view”

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The couple chose an Equitone cement board to clad certain elements of the upstairs structure

PHOTOS PETE HELME

In 2016, Calum and Sally Land decided to move out of London with their three young children. At first, their search took them into the commuter belt, until they visited family in Bath, where Sally found a run-down bungalow. “Self building wasn’t previously an ambition of ours,” says Calum. “But when we stumbled upon the bungalow and saw the boys running into the garden, we knew this was the one.” Although the property had subsidence, the location drew them in. Perched on the side of a valley with an acre of garden and views over the city of Bath, the setting was incomparable.

Calum, European sales director for a publishing firm, began thinking about how their lives would change for the better if he and Sally, a newspaper columnist, could work from home. The couple’s original intention was to renovate the bungalow, but when their surveyor assessed the property, they realised this could quickly turn into an expensive fix for a property that wouldn’t suit their needs. Knocking the original house down and rebuilding it offered a better solution, allowing them to design a home tailored to their lifestyle and saving 20% VAT on the build in the process.

The stone cladding is oolitic limestone, which makes up the valley on which the house is situated

A contemporary grey brick chimney draws the eye up over the woodland skyline

Unusual site conditions

With the plot being on a slope, getting around a few construction challenges and incurring additional expenses were an inevitable part of the process. The original bungalow was demolished due to subsidence, and the steep gradient was a concern. “We were worried we would need to have piled foundations,” says Sally, “but we were very lucky we hit bedrock.” This enabled their builder to lay a reinforced concrete raft with a mass-fill toe that sits on the rock to prevent any downward movement of the structure.