Jonathan and Judith Gough scoured the Staffordshire countryside to find the perfect plot for their striking contemporary new build home

WORDS REBECCA FOSTER PHOTOS CAMILLA REYNOLDS

With a keen interest in architecture, Jonathan and Judith Gough had always wanted to tackle a self build project of their own. After living in a large period property for more than 15 years with their two children, the couple decided to take the plunge and start putting their plans into action. “Over the years we’d developed our family home as much as we could, but in the end, it was always going to be a 100-year-old environmentally inefficient dwelling,” says Jonathan.

Unconventional approach

The pair wanted to remain in the region of south Staff ordshire, close to friends and older relatives. Tracking down an elevated plot with countryside views was also a top priority. However, after several years spent searching for a suitable patch of land with no success, the Goughs had to reassess their strategy. “I started to consider the demolish and rebuild route,” says Jonathan. “So I began looking at older houses or those with a less architecturally-pleasing aesthetic.”

Thanks to his lifelong passion for flying and aviation, Jonathan came up with an innovative way to scour the countryside for a new building site. “I’ve done a lot of fixed wing and helicopter flying. In the end, I used one of these crafts to fly over Staff ordshire and Shropshire, looking for a plot,” he says. “Sometimes, you don’t catch these places on the ground – particularly if they’re very overgrown.”

Luck was on Jonathan’s side, and he soon spotted a suitable patch of land at the end of a lane on the edge of a small village. However, when Judith first came to view the plot – which was already home to an extremely rundown 1970s house – she wasn’t convinced. “Judith came up with a thousand reasons why it’d never be possible for us to live there,” says Jonathan, who ended up taking his wife up in the helicopter to try and share his vision for what they could create. After seeing the site from above, she soon changed her mind, and the couple set about purchasing the property.

“The dwelling had been for sale for about four years. Inside, it was overrun with squirrels, bats and vermin and all of the timber was rotting,” says Jonathan. “Lots of people couldn’t understand why we were leaving our traditional family home for this place.” The couple spent about a month stripping the house out, removing waste and making it vaguely habitable before moving in.