Sustainable Dream Home - Build A New Life in the Country - S05 EP1 - Real Estate

[Music] entrepreneurs michael and  lisa farnsworth dream of creating   a sustainable way of life for  themselves and their two children they hope to convert this 400 year old  barn in rural nottinghamshire good girl but have they underestimated how much they've  taken on doing all this to live a dream and   actually it's a bit of a nightmare i'm trying  to juggle the role of mum and dad and work   and the build and will it all prove too much when  problems with the bank threatened to derail the   whole project if that money isn't in our account  this afternoon i think i might have a mini meltdown [Music]   michael and lisa farnsworth own and run their own  sustainable technology business so at work they   spend all day trying to persuade us to be more  green well now they've decided to practice what   they preach and build an environmentally  friendly family home for themselves to realize their dream the farms worths have  moved just 10 miles from winthorpe to just outside   subtle in the nottinghamshire countryside although  they're only moving a short distance they're   hoping that their new six acre plot will enable  them to create a whole new way of life hello   hello hello michael hello hi nice to meet you  it looks like um hard work it is it is yeah   that looks like quite a project as well  because that building looks like it's   fundamentally knackered yeah it is it's  going to take a lot of work to get it back to   being a nice home what made you move out here  well we were actually going to buy a normal house   and then we just saw this and just fell  in love with it straight away it was one   of those things that just sort of grabbed us  and probably the the heart was ruling the head is that you're supposed to not let that happen the farnsworths have renovated two properties  before but have never been involved in a project   of this scale wow that's beautiful it is amazing  isn't it what a space i love the slot windows as   well the rhythm that they've got it'll make  really beautiful shadows throughout the space   they plan to convert the barn into a six bedroom  five bathroom family home over three floors the   ground floor will have a huge entrance lobby  leading onto an open plan kitchen diner with   west facing french windows on the other side of  the lobby will be an impressive 20-foot lounge a specially commissioned floating staircase will  give access to the first floor where there'll be a   luxury family bathroom there will be two bedrooms  for the children and a master bedroom with its   own bathroom on the second floor there will be a  further two guest bedrooms and two bathrooms the   farnsworth are also planning to reinstate  a two-story extension on the ground floor   there will be a guest bedroom and wet room and on  the second floor a snug with breathtaking views michael and lisa bought the barn over a year  ago and are anxious for the builders to start   work as the roof structure is deteriorating  rapidly unfortunately since we've been here   the m's just rotted away but that's why we've  now built a scaffold tower to support that   stood here for 400 years and since we've moved  in it's got worse right yes yeah it's amazing how   quickly a building will become dilapidated once  water gets in the unfortunate this is what happens   to a lot of historic buildings you know that's  why we're here to rescue it just in time just   in time the original extension was built from a  rare sandstone and was demolished in the 1960s   this photograph clearly shows the extension comes  out about 10 meters we're going to reinstate that   we couldn't get the stone anywhere else  so it makes sense that whilst we've got so   much of it on site we recycle and reuse that  we've dug out about 600 tons so far i mean   yeah it's been a hard job [Music] what's the dream  driving this move i think the dreams to have a   beautiful house with land around us that enables  us to be sustainable and to give the children   a place to grow up that fulfills all their needs  and teaches them about the environment you're   going to be having a very sustainable lifestyle  and what are the kind of elements of that we're   going to have a ground source heat pump so the  heat will be generated from the from the sun   when it heats up the ground we're going to extract  that heat and take it back inside the building one   of the key things for us as well as the rainwater  harvesting system because that's our business   and so we'll be having one of our  own systems and it's a new one so   putting our money where our mouth is and we're  trying it on ourselves what's the kind of the   main driving factors behind the move out here well  we had a few life-changing moments a few years ago   michael had a problem with his back that nearly  paralyzed him um i discovered that i was suffering   from lupus which is an autoimmune disease um and  we kind of re-evaluated everything realized that   life is too short you know and when this came up  for sale we knew we had to grab it with both hands   and just get on and do it we could wait forever  and miss the opportunity but it's worth it i mean   look at it it's just fantastic i  can't ever imagine moving from here   michael and lisa bought the barn and six acres  of land for 495 000 pounds they've been living   on site in a caravan for the last 12 months they  plan to fund the build partly through a mortgage   and partly through savings and income from their  environmental business which they set up together   six years ago how much have you got to do this  incredibly ambitious wonderful project we're   looking at another 400 to 450 000 to do the barn  and the extension and some of the landscaping   works that we want to do because i would have said  that's too low i'm sorry to say just looking at   the areas you know you're talking about 300  plus square meters aren't you yeah yeah and   if you allow 1500 a square meter you're already  at 450 before you add in environmental features   yeah yeah and you know i'm also think it's it's  going to be physically very demanding isn't it   we're running through this as a pace and sometimes  we don't get time to sit down and really think   about what we're doing and actually explaining  it all to you makes me realize how serious this   really is you know actually what if we don't  have the budget what if one of us gets ill but   the thing about dreams is they don't just fall in  your lap you've got to take a risk to get a dream so to sum up they bought the barn for 495 000  pounds and they think they need to spend another   450 000 pounds to turn it into their dream  home that's a total cost of 945 000 pounds but i have two concerns the first is the budget   and the second well this is going to be a  demanding tiring process and what with running   a business and keeping a family going i wonder  what price they're going to pay with their health [Music]   michael and lisa farnsworth are converting a  400 year old barn in nottinghamshire into an   environmentally friendly home for themselves  and their two children lucy and tom [Music]   they're huge aren't they just  having all of this on your doorstep   is why we moved here this is  what we wanted so many apples the farmsworth are starting their  second year living on site in a caravan and after months of planning  it's a landmark day for lisa we have finally got actual real builders  on site with real site cabins and hard   hats and diggers and you know and not just  like one or two either there's like seven   or eight people it's just so exciting to  see i wake up at 7 30 in the morning to   the melodious sound of drills and digging and  men whistling it's never sounded so wonderful but the builders quote has come in  at hundred and sixty thousand pounds   a hundred and ten thousand more than their  original budget which will mean making some tough decisions right okay it's important to  michael and lisa they build a sustainable home   so to cut costs michael is going to take  on a lot of the work himself [Music] i mean it would be all too easy to take out  the environmental things but that would kind   of break down all of our core principles  for us that was never even an option when   we were looking at reducing the price but  this is on top of the mammoth task he's   already set himself to recover sufficient  sandstone to rebuild the extension [Music] the flipping sandstone scary  honestly the pile is getting bigger   michael's been out there every single weekend he's  constantly in and out with the dump truck across   my front doorstep i mean why he chose to put it  right outside the caravan i'll never know but   if we don't sort it and clean it we'll be paying  the contractors to sort it and clean it [Music]   the builder's first job is to deal with the roof but it's not that simple i see the roof still on  i thought that would be one of the first things   to come off yeah we thought it was going to be the  first thing to happen as well but what we didn't   realise is the roof is actually holding the walls  in so we need to keep the roof on as long as we   possibly can so they want to get the walls very  solid before they take that roof off in case the   walls start to move out yeah and we've been hoping  because with the weather that we didn't get a big   lot of snow that yeah just add extra weight to it  so far yeah because i would have thought snow on   that roof could be a big problem good yeah it  could be about 80 kilograms a square meter if   we had a real good dump of snow obviously about  the weight of a man isn't it and that's kind of   the worst thing we need at the moment whilst  the the structure is unsupported like this   so they must get the walls structurally sound  before the winter weather sets in i take it   you're checking the weather forecast every  kind of night fingers there's no snow [Music] the build is due to take 11 months so the family are getting ready to  spend a second winter in the caravan this is one of my most hated jobs of the winter  one of the problems for caravan is it gets very   very mouldy which is not good for asthma which  i have albeit mildly and so do the children   last year the family had to endure  months of sub-zero temperatures   but it doesn't seem to bother five-year-old tom  i like my bedroom i've got a nice warm coat over   there that i wear at night time because i've got  a cold bed coming into the kitchen in the morning   is freezing because there's no heating in here you  can only use a towel once because it never dries   because it's so damp we do not want this build  to go into its third winter because i'm not sure   third winter in the caravan  will do any of us any good a few weeks later winter is beginning to bite  as is the reality of their 110 000 pound budget   shortfall to cut costs michael is planting 4 000  trees which in the future will provide fuel for   heating i'm out here every weekend really rain or  shine it's minus five today but it feels colder   the wind is absolutely freezing luckily today i've  got some friends helping me because sometimes when   you're out here just by yourself all day uh in  the rain and the wind it can get quite sort of   demoralizing the pressures of managing the  build and their business are starting to   take their toll on the family life has been so  hectic lately everything at work is really busy   we're both having to work evenings on that and  lucy's just started school so now we've got two   lots of reading and homework to do poor michael  is absolutely exhausted because there's so much   pressure on him to get the landscaping and stuff  done for the build and i barely see him at all   so at the moment we're doing all this to live  a dream and actually it's a bit of a nightmare it's the beginning of february and  the whole country has been brought   to a standstill by the worst snowfall in decades lisa and michael's fears about the roof are now  realised last three days been a bit precarious   wasn't too bad at first but as you can  see the roof is now totally covered   there's an awful lot of weight  on a very precarious roof and there are forecasts of more snow to come   if the roof comes in the worry is the walls  will go with it and if the walls go with it   it's no longer a renovation it's a new build so  we'd have to reapply from planning all again and   i would be in the caravan for another christmas  so let's just pray that doesn't happen [Applause] in the last few days freezing temperatures have  dramatically slowed down repairs to the walls   most of this work involves lime mortar which  won't set in temperatures below 5 degrees   and although the walls aren't as secure as   they would like the builders make the  decision to take the roof off [Music] what are we gonna do now we're  gonna get a bit wet aren't we   i think they'll put another  roof back on yeah [Music] while the build is back on track the farms worths  turn their attention to their rainwater harvesting   business i just want to talk to you about these  orders they're still waiting for the money from   their mortgage to come through so are funding the  build with savings and income from the company   how did you get on yesterday with the king's  crosstalk having lost their previous business and   their home six years ago they are understandably  nervous we're in tough financial climate now and   our business is based on the construction industry  which has been seeing shrinkage over the last   12 months last month we could see suddenly there  was a massive drop in sales now that for us was   a bit of a wake-up call that we're not immune  to what's happening out there a prime focus is   supporting the business we have to button  down the hatches really to make sure that   we survive because after all that's supporting  financially our family and that's my prime aim   really to support the family and get us into a  house be nice to move out of the caravan [Music] although the worst of winter is over the freezing  weather has delayed the build and the delivery of   the steel frame for the interior this means  they are now three weeks behind schedule the stress of juggling the family business and  the build has caused lisa's lupus condition to   flare up we've had a bit of a tough week this  last week because lisa's not been very well   she's been in hospital and she's still not very  well it takes quite a lot to keep lisa in bed   but this time she's properly poorly she's in  a lot of pain which isn't really nice to see   me and the kids have been sort of getting long  sort of going to school and keeping the builders   at work as well so it's quite a lot of  things to juggle at the moment love you   obviously i feel quite sorry for lisa because  she feels like she can't really help very much   all right how are you getting thomas you  haven't got your shoes on or you cooked [Music] after another two weeks in bed  lisa is back on her feet again   michael's been an absolute rock to me since  i've been ill without a single complaint he's   been taking the kids to school taking the  kids to various clubs um picking them up   coming home doing washing sorting out the animals  dealing with builders sorting out dinner looking   after me as well as still working at the weekends  i mean he's been absolutely fantastic [Music]   beginning the build in winter was always going to  be a gamble but given lisa's recent illness and   having to work through one of the coldest winters  in years hello michael i wonder if they feel it's   been worth it okay nice to see you again now that  we're pretty much at the end of winter how much   has it delayed the project do you think well so  far the builders are about three weeks behind   but you know we wanted to start the build  project as soon as we could and i don't   regret starting we've had hold-ups yeah and no  doubt that may bring some financial knock-ons   but we desperately want to get  in before christmas this year you'd expect the new build extension to be one  part of the project problem-free but it isn't   this is our wet room as you can see i mean  obviously you can see the water where is this   water coming from is it seeping in externally  well here do you know i mean it's just just   looking at this and over here but that's  not looking that promising is it well this   might be coming over the top might be but  that that they've breached that's definitely   a problem yeah and the worst thing is this  isn't isolated i mean it's here here and in   a completely separate side here isn't it i mean  that is not good basically the waterproof layer's   breached is not the best news is it sorry to  have seen that oops i'm really in a bad mood   if the waterproofing has been breached it is a big  problem but the builders are confident that once   the roof and windows get installed that the issue  will be resolved but there's a far bigger problem   looming on the horizon they are still waiting  for the bank to release their mortgage funds   we are now three months in and still no agreement  from the bank to release any money there obviously   has been difficulties in the banking industry and  this is one of the nationalized banks and quite   frankly they are an absolute pain in the ass i  almost wish they'd gone bust because we haven't   had a penny yet from them we've had to foot the  first 80 000 pounds of the build costs so far   because the bank haven't given us any money the  problem for us is this probably means we've only   got another six weeks of our own funded money on  this project before we'd have to stop the build   they've got us by the shortened  curleys we need the money   if they turned around and said you know for some  reason right we're not going to give you the money   i don't you know we'd be in an awful  situation everything would stop   so it's that serious if you don't sort it out in  the next few weeks this all stops i mean you know   we try and always remain positive but there is  a very real threat to the project at the moment well winter has certainly taken its toll both on  their health and the build but all those problems   are going to pale into insignificance if  they can't resolve the problems they have   with their mortgage they've only  got six weeks to do it [Music]   the farnsworth family are five months  into building their eco-friendly home   and are embracing country life [Music] we wanted  the children to see everything that happened and   teach them that you don't just get things handed  to you on a plate and it's really important that   things take time and that you have to put in  lots of hard work and effort from something   as small as growing your own vegetables to  you know the actual build itself do it gently   that's it but while they begin to build their  idea of paradise there are problems with their   mortgage which could put the whole project into  crisis we've been subject to numerous delays   being drip fed with information and  and we still don't have our money it's spring and the steel superstructure that will  form the floors in the barn has arrived [Music]   at nearly 40 000 pounds this is one of the  most costly elements of the renovation [Music]   finally it's starting to take  shape as a house and a home   and that's really exciting because of course  it means that the main structural work is done   but also it's kind of tinged with a bit  of sadness because the whole space has   been so cathedral-like and open now it's  quite sad to see it actually filled in   but um you know without steels you can't  live in it so they have to go in [Music]   and lucy what did you think of the steels you  said it was like magic wouldn't you yeah [Music]   six months in and the builders are  getting on well with the main barn   they've almost finished the roof and  they're building the interior floors after a spell of dry weather the water problem  in the extension seems to have gone away but all the work has to be paid for and now it's  crunch time we have a bill at the moment for sixty   thousand pounds to pay the builder and i promised  him two weeks ago that we would have the money   sorted because the bank said it would be and d-day  came yesterday and had been promised i was okay to   write the builder a check and then i get a phone  call from somebody else in the bank saying that   actually no they haven't got the right paperwork  i have no further money to carry on with the build   no further money to pay the builder we have now  used all of our savings and the building isn't   watertight yet so if we have to stop the build  right at the moment a lot of what has been done   already will have been wasted and may end up  being redone and not only does that leave me   destitute without a house it puts a company  out of business that's been going since 1923.   if that money isn't in our account this  afternoon i think i might have a mini meltdown while michael waits for news from the bank he gets  on the phone to his architect you hear that that's   me pulling a block off before the scaffolding  comes down he's anxious that the stone is   looking its best that one there is a bit shoddy  isn't it yeah what what about that one oh yeah   and if you compare the size of that block at that  point what about where there's little holes in the   in the pointing michael is probably every  builder's nightmare what about things like   that then not just that he's picky but that he's  on site every single day what about this one then   craig and they can't avoid him he leaves early for  work now so that he can allow time on the way to   stop and tell them what he's discovered last night  that he's redoing so we go off onto a scuffle he   will point out stuff he's not afraid to say if  there's something how he doesn't want it but   we're paying for it at the end of the day  we've got to live with it i want to see the   stone coming up to the tiles the same as they do  on that end the masons that built this building   400 years ago had gone through a considerable  amount of effort to make sure all the courses of   blocks were in straight rows and there were  no blocks with any defects and the last thing   i want is the repairs that we make to not reflect  their impeccable level of quality what about that   then do you reckon that's just worth sawing  that bit off and pointing in there [Music]   okay that's good news later that day  michael finally gets a call from the bank   we do have money for the next month's worth of  build work and that is some pressure relieved   from weeks and weeks of anxiety the bank  have paid the first installment of 60 000   pounds which means they can now push ahead with  the build the farms worths are now seven months   into their 11 month build and the layout of  their new family home is beginning to take shape the next big push is on the environmental aspects  of the design they install lots of insulation one of their companies rainwater harvesting tanks   and a heat recovery system to help keep  the house warm in winter and cool in summer but sustainable features  like this can add up to 10   to the cost of a build despite  their tight budget the farms worths   aren't willing to compromise so michael  is taking on yet more work himself his next job is digging the trenches  for the ground source heat pumps [Music]   the cost of the sand is about a thousand pounds  the cost of hiring the machine is about 400   pounds so it's a bit of a no-brainer really it  would cost me 10 times more to have the builder   do it than do it myself and even if i cost in my  time i'm saving myself more than 10 000 pounds by   doing this myself michael needs to dig 150 meters  of trench a day and is taken a week away from   their business to do it meanwhile lisa's inside  doing work she's brought home from the office   this is how life is a bit at the moment  really there just aren't enough hours   in the day so he's out there building us a  home and i'm in here bringing in the money although the initial outlay for the  ground source heating is expensive   the running costs can be as low as a quarter  of that of conventional heating [Music]   the heat source really is from the ground  and the ground gets warmed by the sun   so really we're using or making  the use of a free resource [Music]   as spring arrives the barn is really taking shape   and lisa begins to contemplate  life after the caravan [Music] oh the novelty of the  caravan is well and truly worn off   i could um quite happily take a match to it um at  the moment but you know spring is here the weather   is better the heaters are starting to go off you  know i'm not having another christmas in here   so um all's good even son tom has had enough  i've been in my caravan a bit too long now about   four years maybe so i really think it's  time for me to move into a new house but it   isn't [Music] done there's no doubt that this is  a big build but add to that a young family running   their own business and health and money concerns  and you can see that michael and lisa have not had   an easy time of it but it's now two months until  the date when they should be moving in so i'm   hoping they're on the home straight the big change  since i was last here is the adding of the three   floors into what was once a vast empty space  i'm interested to see how it's worked out oh wow that is this something else isn't it  it is really fun wow really interesting shapes   yeah everything's on the diagonal [Music] but  there's still a long way to go and not much time   i'm doubtful they're going to hit  their deadline so this is your bedroom   now i thought that you were supposed to be in in  a couple of months which yeah i mean lots happened   but there's still a lot to do i mean in the  original schedule we were supposed to be in   in about eight weeks times but just small little  delays cumulatively have added up and we've now   found ourselves about six weeks behind so  you're now talking about mid-november yeah   sort of mid-november really i mean that's  probably back into winter i mean and it is   freezing in the caravan i don't think we could  cope with another winter full winter in that   caravan this winter was really hard and we're  not prepared for another one in it aren't we i can understand that they're desperate to  move in but could michael's eye for detail   actually be slowing them down there's only  just one problem is the colour of the pointing   which kind of concerns me it's kind of a different  mix i think from the pointing on the main barn a   really nice warm sandy colour on the main barn  what are you gonna do about it i think it needs   to be pointing because it just doesn't match lisa  do you think it'd be fair to say that michael's   something of a perfectionist um it's really  important to both of us the details are right   but sometimes you just want to shake him and say  it doesn't matter and the grand scheme of things   but the water problem with the extension has  returned the last time i was here there was a   real problem with the water wasn't it yeah yeah  in fact we still got a problem with the water   uh this is all floating it is yeah and until  the building's watertight we can't tell whether   the water is coming in through the walls to the  windows or literally coming in through the wall   where it's been tanked it doesn't work i mean that  is amazing i mean i've never been in a building   where that is going on and this finished  plaster on the walls i mean this is really   porous this is going to be sucking up moisture  you're trying to get it to lose moisture   and we're floating on water we need to get the  water out of here before the floor is poured   i wouldn't pull the floor until the building's  watertight because even if you pour the floor if   it's running down the walls it's just going to it  could just be going sitting back under the floor   yeah and how it's going to take months to come  back out and the floors are being poured in three   days time well i i you can't pull the floor in  here no it needs to all come out and be redone   doesn't it yes for lisa and michael this is  potentially devastating news the builders are   still confident that the windows and flashing will  resolve the issue but only time will tell [Music]   and i'm seriously concerned that if they want to  avoid spending another winter in that freezing   caravan then getting this project finished  before the weather turns well it could be   the toughest challenge to date a year ago  michael and lisa farnsworth set out to create a   sustainable family home with the added ambition  of doing it in a high-end contemporary style at the start of this project i was concerned that  the farnsworth's budget although large was not big   enough to deliver the environmental standards and  quality that they'd set their heart on but what i   didn't count on was the couple's incredible  determination now when i was here just a few   months ago it seemed like there was still so  much left to do that they would destined to   spend another winter in that freezing caravan  but yet again they've proved me wrong [Music]   hello you're back you're finished it is it's not a bomb site it's more it's a lot  less than a bomb site i mean you've even got   paving grasses i mean you've really been busy  we've been extremely busy an extension because   last time i was here it was more of a swimming  pool yeah less of an extension what happened   once the windows were in all the lead  flashings were on the building was sealed   water tight and we no longer have a problem  so no leaks and that's the good news   well should we have a look inside  i would love to show you around this is a proper piece of architecture and what  a transformation even at first glance it's easy   to see that this 400 year old barn has been  brought back to life with real craft and care it's a lovely elevation isn't it  this yeah it's beautiful [Music]   but it's inside where their vision  really comes to life [Music] wow this is fantastic hello look it's like  a proper magazine it's like a bought one   it's like a grown-up house is it ours  so it doesn't feel like i feel so bad [Music]   considering the barn started  with only slots for windows   the design is a triumph in  maximizing natural light [Music]   they've managed to create a  stylish and contemporary interior   while still retaining the original  charm of the old agricultural building i think what you have done which is a real success  is that it does still have that sense of scale   you know that barneyness that gets lost in  so many barn conversions where you walk in   it's like oh it's a barn from the outside  but inside it could be any house whereas   here you know what it was you feel it we  wanted to keep that sense of sort of like   almost like a cathedral that when you come in  so you can see right from one end to the other   and that was really important to us so  i think it's lovely that there's so much   glass around and you know and then  we've kept so many of the walls exposed but this is more than just a beautiful home  it's a building with brains there's a plant   room dedicated to housing all the environmental  technologies which enable them to significantly   reduce their energy and water consumption and  the floor is lovely and warmer this is the ground   source heat pump it's lovely isn't it they're  working very successfully bringing in the heat   from the field transmitting it on all three floors  of the house i think this is working really well   i think we wanted to prove that you could  have an eco-friendly house and not be having   string rounded trousers and be living in  something that's all made of wood you know   you would never know that this is nico home and i  think that's what a proper eco-home should be like despite the fact the bar now has  three floors six double bedrooms and   five bathrooms they've cleverly managed to  retain the original building's sense of scale   by the bold use of glass  throughout the design [Music]   on the first floor is the family bathroom  with a limestone bath which required special   reinforcement in the floor to take its weight  all the family bedrooms are on this floor and   the children's rooms are certainly a contrast  to their sleeping arrangements in the caravan   so it's the first time lucy's had a very  improper bedroom pink wallpaper she's gonna   she's gonna lay an egg and we've got all the  little shutters in here so she can put her toys   in there and store them away and this is thomas's  room okay and here's his bed deck which he would   just you know be able to go up his out ladder  and and play up on the top it's like he's a   little tree house there he's gonna love this and  this is your bedroom isn't it that's right this   is the master finally got a large bedroom with  a proper bed beautiful it's a massive bed i know   and you can lie in bed and admire your sandstone  that must be nice almost makes me quiet it is a lot of stone is it i mean it's beautiful  it's almost like a work of art though isn't it it   is yeah it really strikes me that this is a very  well-made house and you just see little details   like the way they've managed to get that socket so  well into that stone well that's not an easy thing   to do no yeah very well built it's a lovely lovely  room this is a bit jealous nice bedroom it's a bit   like a hotel isn't it it's very like a hotel yeah  despite the extra costs of incorporating all the   environmental features michael and lisa anticipate  saving 2 000 pounds a year on their running costs keen to minimize waste the extension above  the plant room reuses the timbers from the   original barn's roof it's a nice touch isn't it  they make it i think they really do so how much   does this all cost you well the build costs in  themselves have come in at just over 500 000   so it's actually cost a cool million quid  to do this place and then when you add in   the amount of work that you've done yeah yeah  that's about a hundred thousand pounds worth   of work yeah if we were paying somebody else  to do it it would have been another hundred   thousand so really it would have cost 1.1 million  to do this place but spending more than a million   pounds on a house is a huge amount of money yeah  it's a huge amount of money and actually that um   is very poignant for us because this has all  been built up from scratch about six years   ago we lost our home and our business we both  lost our jobs and we've had to work very hard   to build this home and every penny we've spent  on it has been through hard work and saving   and saving and one of the main reasons we've  gone down the sustainability route is not only   because of our own ethics but because we want  to keep our running costs low it's only been   six years since we started again with nothing  and we just don't take anything for granted and after two and a half years in the caravan it  looks like tom and lucy won't be taking anything   for granted either a little bit of help i'm really  fed up with it living in the caravan it's so   dirty and moldy and rosy and stuff and in  this house there's lots of space to run around   like in the caravan there is  not much space the caravan does it feel a little bit surreal being sat here  yeah i still kind of can't believe it's all ours   it's so big a little bit like going on a holiday  you know we're going to this really nice holiday   home and it kind of still doesn't feel like it's  ours you know how significant a change in your   lifestyle do you think is going to happen now  you know when you start to live the dream that   you've been working so hard for for so long now  that we've got our time back and our lives back   we'll be able to come home from work like normal  people and just to have a life does that mean that   you're actually going to put a ban on michael's  insane working wishes yeah i've sold the digger are you proud of what you've achieved together  because you're a really good team aren't you   we've just stayed focused we've achieved what we  set out to achieve and that's quite fulfilling   really we needed each other to be able to to do  this we couldn't have done it without each other   well i'm very impressed i think you've done an  amazing thing congratulations [Music] i've always   been really impressed with michael and lisa for  taking on such an ambitious build whilst running   their own company and bringing up a young family  but what has really struck me over the past year   is their teamwork because it is working together  that they have created this beautiful sustainable   family home and i don't think anyone could say  that they don't thoroughly deserve it [Music] wow [Music] wow you

Channel: Banijay Home and Garden

Views: 84,444

Keywords: architect george clarke, architect guidance, barn revival, contemporary barn conversion, country living, countryside living, diy home, family home projects, george clarke, home makeover, home renovation, house restoration, interior design, property conversion, property development, real estate, rural life, rural renovation, sustainable home transformation

Id: x2oCrefbwwI

Length: 45min 16sec (2716 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 25 2021