In the beginning...

So here we are, owning a bit of field in a National Park. The plan is to build a house for less than it would cost to buy one and of course to a much higher standard, particularly where insulation is concerned. We can build in the national park because I grew up in the village (local occupancy clause on all new builds) Now in this rural area, that is do-able as market forces mean retirees and people on city wages have driven the prices up well beyond what anyone on a rural wage can afford, in fact the only people from my generation who have been able to stay in the village have inherited houses or rent. So it's definitely cheaper to build than to buy. Being in the national park the house has to fit in with existing properties very much more than in a LA planning controlled area, but that's fine with us as a Grand Designs type thing really would not go. So using the National Parks design guide, you basically are looking at building a traditional stone house on the outside. Since we're a stones throw from an ancient fortified border peel tower and a Norman Motte & Bailey and Saxon (in parts) church, anything else really would look out of place to be fair.

After going to the Homebuilding & Renovating shows for a couple of years, reading all the magazines  and haunting eBuild and the Green building forum, we settled on SIPs for our structure and recycled natural stone and slate for the outside. We wanted the stone to be ready weathered to fit in, but it also has the happy quality of being a lot cheaper too!