It may have taken 10 years of effort to create, but Joe and Polly Harmston feel their Sussex eco home has been worth the wait

WORDS JANET MCMEEKIN PHOTOS JOHN DOMINICK

The Harmstons decided to create a dramatic entrance to their new home by building a parking space that doubles up as a porch. Crushed bricks from the old cottage were used as hardcore for the drive

FACT FILE

NAMES Joe & Polly Harmston

OCCUPATIONS Theatre director/ producer & textile artist

LOCATION West Sussex

TYPE OF PROJECT Self build

STYLE Contemporary

CONSTRUCTION METHOD

Timber frame with brick & cedar cladding

PROJECT ROUTE

Self project-managed

PLOT SIZE One acre

LAND COST £322,000

BOUGHT 2006

HOUSE SIZE 328m²

PROJECT COST £355,500

PROJECT COST PER M2 £1,084

TOTAL COST £677,500

VAT RECLAIM £29,286

BUILDING WORK COMMENCED

April 2011

BUILDING WORK TOOK

27 months

CURRENT VALUE

£1,300,000

When theatre director Joe Harmston and his textile artist wife Polly decided to self build, the couple had no idea they were about to embark on one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, productions of their lives. With Polly starring as project manager and Joe taking centre stage as main contractor, this resourceful pair pulled together during a decade of highs and lows to create their dream home.

Back in 2006, the couple were living in a modest two-bedroom property they’d renovated in Westhampnett, West Sussex. Their family expanded, and things got a bit tight. “When Beatrice and Elyot came along, our cottage, dating from 1770, seemed cramped”, says Joe. “We felt that the time was right to consider building our own home – something we’d dreamt about for a long time.” Over the next year, Polly diligently scoured the internet to find a suitable self build plot. “Joe and I are both extremely eco-conscious.

We were looking for an acre on which to construct a sustainable property, complete with space to grow vegetables and soft fruit”, she says. Persistence reaped rewards when she discovered a brownfield site near Barnham, a few miles south-east of their home. It was a smallholding that had originally been part of the government’s interwar Land Settlement Agency scheme, comprising a semidetached cottage, plus several derelict greenhouses.