Kevin viaja a Oxfordshire para conocer a los Randolph, quienes construyeron su primera casa hace 10 años y ahora, a sus 70 años, han decidido hacerlo todo de nuevo.
Kevin travels to Oxfordshire to meet the Randolphs, who built their first house 10 years ago and now, in their 70s, have decided to do it all again.
#architecture #art #desing
Kevin travels to Oxfordshire to meet the Randolphs, who built their first house 10 years ago and now, in their 70s, have decided to do it all again.
#architecture #art #desing
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TVTranscripción
00:01Buildings like this at Coxwell in Oxfordshire are the cathedrals of medieval agriculture.
00:10This is a vast building.
00:14What it represents on the grandest scale is that wonderful sense of space and height that you get in ancient English barns.
00:22When they were built, barns like this were used for threshing and storing grain, things like that.
00:31Nowadays, they're open, flexible spaces, combined with the appeal of all that wood, make them places where people want to live.
00:40Which is why in this week's programme, we'll be following a couple who are trying to bring the idea of living in a wooden barn into the 21st century.
00:47Dennis and Marjorie Randolph have already built one very comfortable house for themselves after Dennis retired as chairman of Wilkinson Sword.
00:59But even though they're both in their seventies, they've decided to do it all over again.
01:05Moving is something of a hobby for them.
01:08They started off in a 1930s semi-detached in a village called Datchet.
01:12They then moved onwards and upwards into a three-storey Victorian house, which they modernised and refurbished.
01:20This was followed by an even larger home, a Queen Anne Manor house where they stayed for 20 years.
01:26They redecorated and built an indoor swimming pool.
01:30As their children left home, the house became too big for them.
01:34So they had their current home, Clapcot House, specially built to meet their changing requirements.
01:41After ten years at Clapcot, the Randolphs are moving again.
01:46And this time, they've been seduced by the idea of living in an oak-framed building.
01:51What made you choose a barn as opposed to any other type of building?
01:58Well, we saw a programme on television, at least Dennis saw it.
02:01And we were so intrigued with the idea that we got in touch with the makers and took it from there.
02:06I was so impressed that I talked to Marjorie and between us, we decided to contact the people.
02:13And got the brochures and saw what I'd seen, if you like, on television, which was these lovely old structures, all wood, pegged, you know, no screws, no nails, nothing like that.
02:27The main reason that people are attracted to barns as possible homes is the sense of scale, the space, which of course have evolved as part of the agricultural use of the building.
02:41So why build a barn-style home from scratch? Why not just convert an existing barn?
02:48One of the reasons lies in their popularity.
02:51Demand for old barns is now outstripping supply because they are increasingly hard to find.
02:59And also because planning permission is very difficult to get.
03:04Even if you can get planning permission, converting a barn is a tremendous challenge.
03:10You don't want to lose its agricultural identity.
03:14But many of the barn conversions I've visited show the conflict between those great soaring spaces and the desire for a modern life.
03:21The most successful barn conversions respect and use the fabric of the original building.
03:28And that usually means open plan.
03:30Now, the trouble with open plan is that it's often not practical or desirable.
03:34Barns are vast spaces.
03:37And we all need some privacy. A bathroom, bedroom.
03:42Now, here the builder has put in three floors.
03:45Effectively, what he's done is just put a conventional house within the framework of a barn.
03:51Although you can still see pieces of the original building, it's lost that great sense of space, that great sense of soaring height that it has.
04:00Instead, it's like a cottage. It's very cosy.
04:03But the very thing which gave the barn its integrity and its beauty has been lost.
04:12Of course, these buildings were never designed to be lived in.
04:16Certainly not as we do today.
04:18And there are bound to be some nasty confrontations between the past and the present.
04:22Some of the rustic charm might just wear off after you've banged your head on the bathroom beam for the umpteenth time.
04:31The alternative, as in the case of Dennis and Marjorie, is to build your own home.
04:36One that has all the craftsmanship and the qualities of a barn.
04:40But one which is designed the way you want it.
04:42This seems rather a sensible idea and quite feasible.
04:49But, of course, you need a site.
04:51Dennis and Marjorie found one just outside the village of Goring in Berkshire.
04:58The land covers four acres and has fabulous views to the south.
05:05They saw an advert for a bungalow in a local paper.
05:08They didn't want the building, but they did want the land.
05:12So they decided that to secure the plot, they would buy the site and demolish the bungalow.
05:17This gave them land which already had planning permission.
05:20This is an expensive route because you're paying for a building you don't want.
05:24But it means that the Randolphs were able to put their dream home exactly where they wanted it.
05:30And this is the vision they hope to realise.
05:32A modern house of oak and glass that snakes across the side of the hill.
05:38A vast glass atrium lies at the heart of the home.
05:42On one side of this is the master bedroom.
05:45On the other, the study and garage.
05:48So the line of the house flows naturally from one end to the other.
05:52Crossing the atrium above you is an oak bridge joining the two wings of the house.
05:56This leads you to a small attic bedroom at the far end.
06:09The house will be a combination of contemporary and traditional design.
06:14I really like the shape. I think it's a really clever sort of, what do you call it, a zig-zag.
06:21A zig-zag.
06:22Yeah. And the idea is what you've come in, you drive into the carport, you come in, check the faxes in the study.
06:28Right.
06:29What happens with the bars here?
06:31The hatch is there.
06:32The hatch is there.
06:33You pour yourself a drink.
06:34Exactly.
06:35Go into the living room conservatory.
06:36Go into the conservatory and look at the view.
06:38Fantastic.
06:39Well mind you, I've got the best view.
06:40A few more drinks you just make your way through to the bedroom and lie down.
06:46It's May and foundations are now in place.
06:49But the house won't be finished for another six months and they want to be in by October.
06:56The site cost them £250,000 and the build is costed at another £170,000, which should be covered by the sale of their existing home.
07:10That's, that's my office there.
07:12And delightful it is too.
07:13Doesn't it look small?
07:15Well the thing is I think buildings do until they go up, the ground plan without the structure on it always seems on the site to look as though it shrunk.
07:23We found that where the place we are now.
07:26Yeah.
07:27Yeah, always I think.
07:28And that's the bar.
07:30Yes, the bar.
07:31Or the whole room.
07:32No, no, no, no.
07:33No, no, no, no, no.
07:34No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
07:35No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
07:36It's a, it's a, it's a cloakroom at the far end of the line.
07:37Right, okay.
07:38We always design the bar first.
07:39The bar in your study.
07:40The bar in your study.
07:41No, no, no, no.
07:42I noticed they've taken particularly,
07:43and that has the best view, of course.
07:44It is a fantastic view, of course, but there is in the foreground, and can't ignore it.
07:49Yes, yes, they arrived about two weeks after we bought them.
07:54Oh, no.
07:55Well, if you're in the country, you know, you've got pigs, and they don't stay.
07:59They are free range, and as you say, they'll move on to mud new.
08:04Absolutely.
08:10I came to visit the architect of their dream, Roderick James,
08:14who lives and works in Devon in one of his own houses.
08:20He started out converting and repairing old barns,
08:23but 20 years ago he started to design new oak-framed buildings.
08:35What are the defining qualities of an oak-framed building that make it special?
08:41I think it's partly to do with the symmetry,
08:45the fact that as your eye follows round the roof,
08:50it goes right the way round and down again,
08:53and it's actually got space to travel and to keep travelling,
08:56and similarly going the length of the building.
08:58There's lots for it to sort of leading it easily round,
09:01whereas if you have a sort of wedge-shaped ceiling or roof like that,
09:06your eye tends to sort of follow up and get stuck in it.
09:08It's just sort of unsatisfactory.
09:10And I think it is just one of the qualities of the pitched roof
09:14being open to the main room that is very successful.
09:17I mean, oak obviously has that whole English tradition,
09:20the hearts of oak and English oak,
09:22and the ships were made of oak and so on.
09:24So I think it has a historical basis,
09:27and there's something about, I don't know,
09:29just the sort of British consciousness about oak which is important.
09:33I think it has a warmth, it has a wonderful texture,
09:37it has a spectacular grain.
09:39And oak is a very durable wood,
09:41it doesn't need toxic preservative treatment.
09:43It can just be used as it is.
09:49As well as the architectural practice,
09:51Rod James also has a construction company,
09:53Carpenter Oak, who will build the oak frame.
09:56Once clients like the Randolphs have been bitten by the timber bug,
10:01and they've looked at some of Carpenter Oak's buildings,
10:04they probably come here and meet with Rod
10:06and start to discuss and rough out some of the ideas that they have in mind.
10:09Of course, the building is going to dictate its own aesthetic,
10:11but the layout and the planning is really down to the relationship
10:14between architect and client.
10:16It's in this room that the building starts to take shape,
10:20and that the dream becomes reality.
10:24And oak-framed buildings are the stuff of dreams.
10:29All our nostalgic hankerings that Rod spoke of
10:32are bound up in the colour, texture and strength of oak,
10:36qualities that are brought together by nature.
10:40The trees that are used to build the Randolphs' house
10:43come from managed English woodland,
10:46planted for industry in the late 1880s.
10:52These oaks are about a hundred years old,
10:54and the intention for all of the oak planting
10:56that happened in the 19th century
10:57was that the material was going to be used in industries
11:00which are now redundant,
11:01things like shipbuilding or coffin-making,
11:04carriage-making, carts, barrels,
11:06all these kind of things, pit props even.
11:08But now these oaks have another purpose.
11:11They're going to be used to make houses.
11:15Native timber is about the most environmentally friendly material
11:19you can build your house from
11:21because it's sustainable
11:23and needs a minimum of transport and processing.
11:28For most of this century,
11:29we've done little to continue the historic tradition
11:32of planting and managing our woodlands.
11:35But Carpenter Oak and companies like them
11:38are changing that with selective felling
11:41and extensive replanting,
11:43creating new oak woods for future generations.
11:50At least 40 oaks will be needed for Dennis and Marjorie's house,
11:53for which another 80 will be planted.
11:56From Rod's technical drawings and sketches,
12:00the carpenters draw up detailed elevations
12:03on which all the cut lengths of timber are marked up.
12:07The oak is ordered and delivered straight from the tree,
12:10hence the term green oak.
12:12Because it's fresh,
12:13it's incredibly easy for the carpenters in Chippenham to cut it.
12:17So easy, I had to have a go.
12:23So, having ordered it out, then chisel, yeah?
12:26Yeah, that's right, yeah.
12:27How do you do the corners?
12:28Well, I have a special chisel,
12:30it's called a corner chisel.
12:32Cheat.
12:34So easy, even I could do it.
12:36Yeah.
12:37Am I at risk of spitting this whole beam?
12:39No, not at all.
12:40I just hold it dead, you know.
12:41Yeah, tilt the line, that's it.
12:43Yeah.
12:44There you go.
12:46Using traditional tools isn't always as easy as it looks.
12:50Make sure you don't watch the chisel in.
12:56He's well in.
12:57Yeah, I should have said it.
12:59Yeah, you should have said that.
13:01Save humiliating me in front of all the viewers.
13:04No, no.
13:06This 150-year-old tool has just been broken.
13:10It takes about two months to make a frame like the Randolphs,
13:14but each wall is made flat on the trestles,
13:16and the whole thing doesn't get a full 3D assembly
13:19till it gets on site,
13:21so no-one knows if it's going to work.
13:24On the day it goes up,
13:25all those joints, wedges and pegs should lock together
13:29like a structural jigsaw puzzle.
13:31But until then, it's all just a big pile of wood.
13:35It's a fabulous morning in June,
13:45and the frame has finally arrived on site.
13:49The carpenter craftsmen,
13:50who were employed just for this part of the build,
13:52are all set to put it up,
13:54and all touching wood,
13:56that it'll go together smoothly.
13:58Each piece of wood is labelled,
14:01ready for its unique place in the grand scheme.
14:04The construction method hasn't changed for hundreds of years.
14:08Mortis and tenon joints are pinned together by oak pegs.
14:12As the pegs go in, they tighten the joint,
14:15creating a taut, strong structure.
14:19A frame this size may take two months to make in the yard,
14:23but it can be assembled in just a few days on site.
14:27The method of using posts and tie beams
14:30is exactly that used by these boys' forebears 600 years ago.
14:42Rod's carpenters have learnt an enormous amount
14:44from repairing historic oak structures
14:47and seeing how their ancestors got it right,
14:50and sometimes wrong.
14:52A frame like this will shrink and tighten as it dries,
14:57giving it the strength of tensioned steel.
15:01Despite this inherent strength of oak,
15:04people are still reluctant to build their houses out of timber.
15:07One of the reasons is fire.
15:09As oak burns, it forms a layer of char over the surface,
15:14which actually impedes the progress of the fire.
15:17This means that oak's resistance to fire
15:19easily meets today's strict building regulations.
15:23The other concern is how long will an oak building last?
15:27Now, the cracks, the shakes that form on an oak beam,
15:31are only superficial.
15:32They don't penetrate to the hardwood.
15:34And if that isn't enough,
15:36well, then just think of all those magnificent houses and cottages
15:39that are oak frame that stand in the English countryside
15:42and in towns that are there after centuries.
15:48The most elaborate part of the Randolph's design
15:50is the central atrium.
15:52This is also the trickiest part of the build.
15:55It really is. This is the important bit.
15:58I hope they know what they're doing.
16:00This frame of tie beams will carry a bridge across the atrium.
16:05It's very heavy and unwieldy
16:07and has to be lowered in its entirety
16:10to joint into the posts below.
16:16Even complex braced structures like these
16:19need no steel, no screws or nails,
16:21simply some fresh-cut oak
16:23and the skills and commitment of the men that work it.
16:27From the very beginning, we're heavily involved
16:30in what the timber's going to do,
16:32what's it going to be like in its final stage.
16:35And that gives us a kind of spiritual attachment
16:38because we're so involved.
16:39Right to the end, we've made it in the yard,
16:42put a lot into it,
16:43and then we go onto site and we put it up
16:45and it all fits together, hopefully.
16:47Click, click, click.
16:48And that gives you a great sense of satisfaction
16:50because in the yard it's actually quite abstract.
16:53It's abstract.
16:54And, of course, the oak is a wonderful stuff.
16:56Green oak is a wonderful stuff to work.
16:58It's like cheese.
16:59It's so easy to work.
17:07Although Rod James is the primary architect,
17:09he lives quite some distance from the site
17:11and has very sensibly contracted a local architect
17:14for day-to-day management of the build.
17:17Dennis and Marjorie are demanding clients.
17:20They well know from experience
17:22that you have to make decisions
17:23while the building process is going on.
17:26And so once those beams are in,
17:29then this is complete.
17:31That's right.
17:32For the woodwork?
17:33Yeah.
17:34Well, the quicker the better now.
17:36We want to get in.
17:38Contrary to what you might think,
17:41buildings can never be planned in every minute detail.
17:45Countless day-to-day decisions need to be made.
17:48That's from the back end of there.
17:51Yeah.
17:52Well, we'll redo it on that large scale.
17:55And now it's all starting to come together.
17:58You can see down into this.
18:00Oh, yes, yes.
18:01There obviously is a balustrade across there for safety reasons.
18:05Yeah, but there's no wall there.
18:08No, no.
18:09There's a beam.
18:10That's the truss.
18:11That's the...
18:12That's the truss we're seeing there.
18:13Well, the wall...
18:14When you're in the library,
18:15you'll be seeing over the top of that tithing.
18:17Please, please, the wall will come up rectangularly,
18:20no, won't it?
18:21Underneath the stair.
18:22Underneath, yes.
18:23Because there is a space for the picture.
18:26Right.
18:27Yes, yes.
18:29You've always got to think about
18:30either the pictures or the plants.
18:32I mean, you've got a house,
18:35but it's these things that make a home.
18:47Right down there?
18:49I'm feeling very excited, aren't you?
18:51Well, it's...
18:54It's really come up to expectations,
18:56or even beyond, I would say.
18:58I think it's absolutely superb.
19:00Yeah.
19:01I'm delighted.
19:05And, of course,
19:06they're putting the tool shed up over there.
19:09That, of course, is the most important part
19:11of the entire structure, I know, darling.
19:13Your tool shed is really it.
19:15Oh, it has to be, isn't it?
19:17Well, what would I do without my tool shed?
19:19Well, unkindly.
19:20It would say it would be your refuge away from me,
19:22wouldn't it?
19:23Well, you'd say you'd just...
19:25Yes.
19:26I mean, I can whistle from there,
19:27and you can bring the coffee over.
19:33It seems all wrong to call it the tool shed.
19:35It's much more mad, isn't it?
19:37Especially as you get the tractor in and everything.
19:39Well, that's right.
19:40I think you should just call it the barn.
19:41The barn?
19:42Yeah.
19:43That's what it is.
19:44All right, yes.
19:45It's a bit big for a shed, isn't it?
19:47And you reckon I can drill into that all right?
19:50Yeah, no problem at all.
19:51It looks a bit hard to me.
19:53Well, it's soft at the moment.
19:55It'll get harder as it gets drier.
19:57Yeah, yeah.
19:58Until in maybe 50 or 100 years,
20:01it'll be too hard to bang a nail in
20:03unless you drill a hole first.
20:04I don't think I should be here, then.
20:06No, it won't be a problem for you,
20:07but maybe for your ancestors.
20:09Well, yes, not the next lot,
20:11but a lot after that.
20:13At the end of the construction of the frame
20:15is the topping out ceremony.
20:17A sprig of oak is fixed to the top of the frame
20:20as an offering to the oak tree
20:22to thank it for the use of its timber.
20:24Building a new home is an awesome undertaking,
20:30and Dennis Randolph is just the sort of person
20:33to rise to the challenge.
20:35When he built his last home,
20:36he also planted a vineyard as his retirement project.
20:40So will you miss the vines?
20:42Yes.
20:43It's been an interesting ten years we've had with them.
20:48Mind you, it's only five miles away
20:50and daughter and son-in-law
20:52taking over.
20:54You can always come back and stroll along them.
20:55Come back and have a look at them.
20:56So are you a man that, um,
20:58do you enjoy a good project?
20:59I mean, do you feel that this is sort of,
21:00as it were, this is accomplished,
21:01therefore...
21:02Got to get on and do something else.
21:04Make another thing.
21:05Yes, I, it's, I'm afraid I do tend to
21:09move from one thing to another,
21:11especially now.
21:13A week after the frame has been erected,
21:16Rod James has come to visit the site.
21:18He's not too happy about the changes
21:21that Dennis and Marjorie want to make to the atrium.
21:28Instead of glazing the whole of its roof,
21:30they want to put tiles on one side of it.
21:33Put simply, they're worried it'll feel too much,
21:36like a greenhouse.
21:37And as you know, I mean, the original idea was that
21:40we had the whole thing glazed.
21:41But I think, now you've seen the frame up,
21:43there are two options.
21:44And one, we can just decide to roof that side completely.
21:48Or we can mock it up with building paper or something,
21:52so you can actually get a feeling of it.
21:54So on the, on the atrium area,
21:57you were thinking of having glass just on the one side,
22:00and tile slated now on the other side.
22:02That's right.
22:03You know, I think I would consider roofing the ridge
22:07and glazing the lower.
22:08Because I think one of the things about note frame
22:10is that the, one of the reasons that people find it easy to just relate to,
22:16is because of its symmetry,
22:18because of the fact your eye wanders up and down
22:20and goes round and round in that sort of space.
22:23And as soon as you start making it asymmetrical
22:26and having just one flat ceiling and then one glazed ceiling,
22:30you begin to detract from that flow.
22:33Yes, that's important.
22:34One needs to think about it very carefully,
22:35because it's easy to make the wrong decision.
22:38You can't just have a little window in the middle of it?
22:41No.
22:42No.
22:46She's got too many clothes, you see.
22:48Very flexible, eh?
22:50Big advantage of flexible plants.
22:52She's got all this space.
22:53After much discussion, they're still undecided what to do.
22:58With the oak craftsmen gone, the conventional builders move in.
23:05Their job is to turn the frame into a walled building,
23:08and if you thought the gaps were to be filled in
23:10with hazel wattle and mud daub,
23:13then you'll be as disappointed as I was
23:15at the sight of these dreary conventional breeze blocks.
23:21Understandably, when you're building your own home,
23:24the house becomes all-important,
23:26and the area it stands in completely forgotten.
23:29But for Marjorie and Dennis,
23:31the land that surrounds their new home is of great importance to them.
23:34They plan to turn the area into a wildflower meadow,
23:37and Dennis has already dug out what he hopes will become a lake
23:41to attract local wildlife.
23:44But they need some advice, so they've called in Catherine Hearn,
23:48a wildlife consultant for the National Trust,
23:51to advise them how best to achieve this.
23:53The lake turns out to be not as eco-friendly as they'd hoped.
24:00So now we're standing on a not very fertile edge of a hole,
24:04which Dennis insists on calling his lake.
24:07It's just a hole, really, isn't it?
24:10With a bump in the middle.
24:11It's got an island in the middle.
24:13What is the ecological assessment of this?
24:18Well, my first reaction,
24:20it was that it would have been marvellous
24:23if you could put it near the house.
24:25We really want them fed by rainwater,
24:28or fed by water from the gutters and downpipes.
24:31So there's nowhere for it to come.
24:33We don't really want to use our very scarce and precious water
24:37from mains to fill it up.
24:41There may be no water in Dennis's chalk pond,
24:44or lake, as he prefers to call it,
24:46but there's plenty in the house,
24:48as contractors use a water and sand mix
24:51to blast the oak clear of all the dirt and tannin stains
24:55it has accumulated.
24:57Oak contains a massive amount of tannin,
25:00which leaches out of the wood as great brown and black marks
25:04when exposed to the weather.
25:06Blasting removes them and also brings up the grain of the timber.
25:17Glazing is now getting underway in the house,
25:19and a creative compromise has been reached by Rod and the Randolphs.
25:23They've agreed to partially board over the apex of the roof,
25:27but to retain the symmetry of the building
25:29by having glass on both sides.
25:31The glass has arrived a few days late, but it's worth the wait.
25:38The type of glass they're using, Pilkington K,
25:41is flexible enough for an oak frame
25:43and is coated with a reflective film to keep the heat in.
25:46This is passive solar heating.
25:48A great advantage of building your own house is that it allows you to weigh up the pros and the cons of different technologies,
25:57things like heating.
25:58One of the most exciting and the most efficient ways of heating your house is with underfloor heating.
26:05Now, Dennis is using the system which is pipes laid into polystyrene blocks,
26:10but he's using it in a very revolutionary way
26:13because he's trying to attach it all to a heat exchanger,
26:16which is using the heat from the earth outside the house and bringing it in.
26:21The only trouble is he's having to bury 900 metres of pipe just below the surface of the earth outside.
26:28But Dennis needs to finalise details and be reassured that the system he's chosen will work.
26:38On this heating thing, I'm feeling rather lonely in the sense that I've taken the decision so far
26:44that we're going to have underfloor.
26:46Well, the first thing is that the heat pump is the right piece of equipment
26:50to deliver the sort of temperatures of the water that the underfloor heating system is going to need.
26:55The heat pump itself is a little fridge machine.
26:58It cools the ground down and moves useful heat from the ground into the house.
27:03The one thing you do have to be sure is, though,
27:06that that ground collector is not too near the surface.
27:09The interesting thing is that at long last people are starting to recognise that this is solar energy.
27:15It is a solar energy technology.
27:17It's not geothermal.
27:18Most of the energy comes from the sun and it's stored in the earth.
27:22Very little of it comes up from deep ground.
27:25Yeah.
27:26Dennis and Marjorie have decided to do some work on site
27:30and start mowing to help establish a wildflower meadow.
27:33People have said you have to have lots of projects in hand when you move to this place.
27:39And what on earth are you going to do?
27:41It's a bit of a difficulty in deciding which we shall do first because there's so much to do.
27:48And unless one's going to be a real grasshopper, I think we've got to be really pretty well disciplined.
27:56It's now September and after five months the schedule's beginning to slip a bit
28:08and they've only just started digging trenches for the heating pipes.
28:12But there's always time to stand back and enjoy the scenery.
28:17Look at that view, beautiful.
28:20I shall almost certainly spend a lot of time looking out of this window at that beautiful view.
28:27I'm trying to identify where the different places are.
28:31Of course we shall eat in here, we shall have our table in here.
28:35And, er, definitely, we're looking out, a lot of the time.
28:47And inside, the bedroom walls are being constructed.
28:51They'll partition off two ensuite bathrooms.
28:54One with jacuzzi for Marjorie, the other with a sauna for Dennis.
28:59With so much going on, I think it's about time to pay Dennis a visit.
29:08How are you?
29:09How is it going? It's a wonderful building.
29:11Yeah, I know, it's all rendered and up and plastered and it looks, it looks fantastic.
29:16It really does.
29:17Slightly late.
29:19Yeah? By how much?
29:20Well, months.
29:22And then what's that due to?
29:23Well, I think I'm partly the problem.
29:27We took a long time to finalise on the heating.
29:30Right.
29:31But, er, and so we've had a bit of delay in getting the underfloor to begin.
29:35You can't get anything else done until you've done that.
29:37One thing is dependent on another.
29:38Well, certainly.
29:39And what are they doing here?
29:40What's this huge, what's this motorway construction?
29:42I have to confess that that, again, is something that went slightly wrong, I think.
29:47Well, we're going to have a terrace here.
29:49Right.
29:50And, er, it is, the house is a little bit higher than we thought it was going to be
29:55and therefore it makes the wall of the terrace at the end here very, very high.
29:59It's about six foot high.
30:00Okay.
30:01So what are you going to do about that?
30:02Now, that means that you've got to have a heavy foundation.
30:04Right.
30:05And we've even got, er, wire, you know, in the brickwork and or in the concrete work and so on.
30:10Right.
30:11To support it.
30:12But, er, yeah, it's a pity that, because it's taking longer and it's going to cost more.
30:17It's a big old area, isn't it?
30:18I mean, it seems enormous to me.
30:19Well, yes.
30:20Now, we, well, we insisted on that, because our formal part of the garden is going to
30:24be the terrace.
30:25We're going to have lots of plants and pots and so on.
30:27Right.
30:28The rest of it out here is going to be mostly wildflowers.
30:31How's the pond going?
30:33Because from here, I can tell you, it doesn't seem to have changed much.
30:37No, we haven't done anything.
30:38That's my first job when we get in here.
30:40The only thing is, how do we fill it?
30:42I mean, if you leave it for rain, it's going to take about two years.
30:47I'm told you can get the fire brigade in.
30:49Certainly, you can practise hosing things, it seems like.
30:52I don't know where they get the water from.
30:54I get a bit bored of hosing them.
30:56It's pond for a while.
30:57Anyway, I'm going to leave you to mole about this one.
31:00OK.
31:07It's late October, and the build is now running a whole two months late,
31:12mainly due to the extra work involved in constructing the terrace.
31:16And this is no ordinary terrace.
31:19It's a bunker which the Randalls have built without consulting their architect, Rod James.
31:24It may have a fish pond in it, but if you ask me, it's put a serious dent in the charm
31:29and modesty that the house had.
31:31But it's not my house, so what can I do apart from offer my services as a painter?
31:36The unique thing about this paint is its colour, because it's pigmented using iron oxide pigments, proper mineral pigments.
31:44They're the kind of things that have been used in paints for centuries, and they're made from clays,
31:49which are the same things which colour the earth and the rocks around us, and colour brick as well.
31:54And so, by applying this colour to the outside of this building, what we're doing is, if you like, rooting it in the landscape.
32:02We're making it part of the local colour vocabulary as a way of making a modern building fit into the landscape.
32:09It's a much quicker and cheaper way than it is, say, by using expensive traditional local materials, just by applying coatings, colour.
32:19Well, that technique may work on the house, but paint won't disguise the terrace.
32:24Rod James was a little melancholy about it.
32:27So, Rod, how long has it since you've seen this place?
32:30I was here last week.
32:31Yeah?
32:32Was this up?
32:33It was just almost up.
32:35Right.
32:36And, er...
32:37The lower you get...
32:38It's quite...
32:39It's quite a big wall, isn't it?
32:40It's very, very big.
32:41I think it'll be a lot better once the... I mean, the planting will be coming right up.
32:45And I think once the planting's...
32:47Because they're gonna...
32:48The banking's gonna come up and they'll be planting on the edge, which will soften it.
32:52That isn't gonna look too much like a reservoir.
32:54I don't think so.
32:55I think once it's, er...
32:57Once it's fully done, it'll be okay.
32:59I think one of the...
33:00It's one of the problems always on a sleeping site, where you've got the ground falling away,
33:04and people want to be able to stand outside their house on a level.
33:08Yeah.
33:09I think it'll be fine.
33:10Once the earth's spanked up and we've got some planting around the top, I think it'll soften very well.
33:15There is that wonderful remark by someone that, er...
33:18The difference between a doctor and an architect is that a doctor can always bury his mistakes.
33:23An architect can merely plant vines.
33:26Which, er...
33:27In the context of Dennis' wine-growing is probably quite good.
33:30Anyway, I must let you get on with your painting.
33:32Yeah, yeah.
33:33So, well, what do you really think of it, this wall?
33:36I think it'll...
33:37I think it will soften down fine, but it is an area which I'm slightly apprehensive about, but...
33:42You mean you're not...
33:43Maybe...
33:44Maybe we'll put some broad steps down...
33:46The terrace is a fait accompli.
33:51But Dennis and Marjorie have invited me for lunch to talk about a new idea they've had.
33:58It's inspired by their favourite restaurant.
34:01But I don't see what's Chinese about their house.
34:05Is this your favourite table? Do you come here a lot?
34:10Yes, we come quite often, actually.
34:13Yes, it is the favourite table.
34:17Yeah.
34:18Because it gave us a brilliant idea.
34:21Which is?
34:22That aquarium.
34:24For the house, you mean?
34:26Yeah, for your house.
34:27Exactly.
34:28We're going to put one in between the bar and the atrium in the middle of the house.
34:34You built it into the wall, then?
34:35Yeah.
34:36It'd be part of the wall.
34:37It will be the wall.
34:38It will be.
34:39Yeah, well, quite.
34:40Well, I think the use of this is really fascinating, because...
34:42When I think about what they look like, what they do.
34:47I mean, out of the corner of your eye almost.
34:49They're rather like...
34:50No sort of form of flickering light.
34:52They're rather like a fire or a television.
34:55Shall we go over after we've been here?
34:57We must do, darling, because we've got to...
34:59And I want to see this paint on the outside.
35:01I'll go and inspect what you've been doing.
35:03Mmm.
35:04Well, it's pink.
35:05Mmm.
35:06No, she doesn't like pink.
35:09It's brown.
35:10I don't understand.
35:14She suggested the colour.
35:16She also chose white as the colour for the interior.
35:19And it all looks remarkably beautiful.
35:22Marjorie's library and the attic bedroom are finished.
35:25And it's finally coming together.
35:28Even the jacuzzi for her bathrooms arrived.
35:35While the house is being finished, Marjorie is hard at work creating a mosaic.
35:41This will eventually take pride of place on the terrace.
35:48The design is based on the Randolph's coat of arms,
35:51which was created for Dennis when he was chairman of Wilkinson Sword.
36:00The notorious terrace has now been banked up with earth,
36:03which will form a slope down to the Wildflower Meadow.
36:06The inside is filled with rubble from the site.
36:15One week later, and the house still isn't finished,
36:19but Dennis and Marjorie can't wait any longer.
36:22They're moving in today, even if it means moving in with the diggers.
36:27They might be a bit more just settled-flated.
36:32Yeah, we went down to take dust to do that.
36:39Are you enjoying it?
36:40Not particularly.
36:46Dennis has gone ahead,
36:50because he wants to get the house as ready as possible
36:53before Marjorie arrives later in the day.
36:56But work is still going on around him.
37:06It's been a long journey to get this far,
37:09and Dennis and Marjorie are going to be living for the next few weeks
37:12with builders, electricians, and diggers.
37:15But their dream home is emerging from its cocoon.
37:21The land cost around £250,000.
37:24The house was £170,000,
37:26and architects' fees, £12,000.
37:28So that's a grand total of £432,000.
37:31The house has recently been valued at between £500,000 and £600,000.
37:36So, financially, it's a success.
37:40Dennis and Marjorie have been living here for two months now,
37:43and the builders have only just left.
37:45Now, this is the second house that they've built,
37:47so I've been wondering, has it been any easier this time?
37:51And more importantly, have they got the house that they wanted?
37:58Oh, hello.
38:00Hello, Kevin.
38:01Hello, how are you, Dennis?
38:02Nice to see you.
38:03Nice to see you.
38:04Come in and see the house.
38:05Yeah, I can't wait to see it.
38:06It's beautiful.
38:07Oh, I love this, er, this garage.
38:09It's not a garage, it's a carport.
38:12Why are you taking me in the treasure and gentils?
38:14Well, this is the best way in.
38:16It's easier this way, and you can see the lovely beams.
38:18Come into my study.
38:19Oh, goodness me.
38:20Look at this.
38:21Oh, this is, er, this is very exciting, isn't it?
38:23Hasn't it gone well?
38:24This has worked extremely well.
38:25I mean, look at that beautiful view out there.
38:27Yeah, you have the best view here, do you think, from this room?
38:29Well, that was well planned, you see.
38:31Mm, yeah, it's deliberate.
38:32Not stupid.
38:33Not all of a plant.
38:34Here, I remember you deciding to put this in.
38:37This is the cubby hole.
38:38That's the hatch into the bar.
38:39Yes, that's where the booze goes, right there?
38:41Yeah, yeah.
38:42Come through.
38:43Yes, come.
38:44I can't wait to see the atrium, living space.
38:46That's the atrium, yes.
38:47Look at that.
38:48Isn't it beautiful?
38:49Oh, yes.
38:50Now we've got all the furniture and everything.
38:51Doesn't it look lovely?
38:52It looks very, very different to when I saw it last.
38:53Now we're absolutely thrilled.
38:54Very clean.
38:55Very, very sharp, isn't it?
38:56Marjorie.
38:57Marjorie.
38:58Hello.
38:59How are you?
39:00I'm well, how are you?
39:01Very, very well.
39:02Nice to see you.
39:03Nice to see you.
39:04And this is quite extraordinary because you walk through and there's a sudden change of height,
39:21isn't there?
39:22It's quite marvellous.
39:23You must be very excited.
39:24Oh, we do.
39:25We think it's smashing.
39:26Come and see my beautiful terrace.
39:28Let's see that.
39:29Oh, goodness.
39:30You've built a pergola.
39:31That's right.
39:32How marvellous, isn't it?
39:33It carries the line right out, doesn't it?
39:34Yes.
39:35Yes.
39:36There you are.
39:37And this is it.
39:38What is it?
39:39What is it about that?
39:40Well, yeah, it's extraordinary, isn't it?
39:41What do you mean?
39:42It's wonderful.
39:43It's great.
39:44It's really good.
39:45I love it.
39:46When I saw this last, I had severe misgivings about this because I felt the house looked great
40:01until you built this.
40:02Why?
40:03Because they didn't look like cold dits.
40:04You had this enormous bunker running around the house before it was all...
40:08That was a gun emplacement.
40:09Exactly.
40:11And Rod wanted you to have steps, didn't he?
40:13He did.
40:14He did.
40:15And you did not succumb to that suggestion?
40:16No.
40:17Was that altercation you had with Rod?
40:19Was that a difference of opinion?
40:20Was that as worse as it got?
40:22It wasn't an altercation at all.
40:23It was a difference of opinion.
40:25But, I mean, no, we've had differences of opinion before.
40:29Forgotten...
40:30Oh, yes.
40:31One always does.
40:32Well, yes.
40:33Especially with architects.
40:34Yes.
40:35Especially with architects.
40:36But we always win.
40:38So, it's all right, isn't it?
40:39Well, we're happy if we win, yes.
40:41You've got the checkbook, haven't we?
40:43Come on.
40:44You've got to come and see the rest of this gorgeous space,
40:47because you've only seen a little bit, haven't you, so far?
40:53Great red.
40:56And a great view, Marjorie.
40:59You've really drawn the short straw here, haven't you?
41:02Ah, but I can see everybody who comes into the house.
41:05I love these cupboards.
41:06These are terrific, aren't they?
41:07They're just like a great wall of wood.
41:09There's no handles.
41:10No, just finger holes.
41:11Yeah.
41:12And no knobs to...
41:13Marjorie doesn't like knobs.
41:14No.
41:15And that's clever, that dresser, because it...
41:16Yes.
41:17It follows the line of the wall, isn't it, where the building changes direction?
41:20That's right.
41:21It's just where everything sits, but no one else for it.
41:24Excellent.
41:25But now you've got to come and see the bedroom.
41:26Well, you come in and see the bedroom.
41:31Oh, great.
41:32What a colour.
41:33Isn't it wonderful?
41:34Yes.
41:35Well, it's the same as the kitchen, of course.
41:37Yeah, but it looks so good against the air, doesn't it?
41:39It does, it does indeed.
41:40It's absolutely marvellous.
41:41Marvellous.
41:42What do you think about the curtains?
41:43A strong, interesting pattern.
41:45But the great thing is that, you know, with doors, they take up space.
41:50Oh, these are what?
41:51Cupboards?
41:52Yeah.
41:53Oh, right.
41:54And there's curtains over the cupboard.
41:55The loo with a view.
41:56The loo with a view.
41:57The loo with a view.
41:58The loo with a view.
42:03Marjorie, I can see the pigs.
42:08Dennis' loo might not have such a good view of the pigs, but he does have a rather nifty shower curtain.
42:14And a one-man sauna.
42:21I was left to explore upstairs on my own.
42:29This building works really well.
42:31I love the space and the light, and even the acoustic of it.
42:35And up here on the bridge, which of itself is a very ingenious way of using all this height, with all this glass, you really feel as though you're reaching for the sky.
42:44You can also appreciate from up here all this magnificent oak.
42:49It's got little pegs and wedges which show you how it was built and how it's held together.
42:55And it also has these shakes or cracks which appear slowly as the wood dries out and becomes even harder.
43:04These are the timeless qualities of oak buildings.
43:07And with the passage of time, they can only get better.
43:14This is what it's all about.
43:21A building with a heart of oak.
43:31As I walked across the bridge, I was reminded of the classic oak barns that I'd visited before.
43:38Now, this library's a great little room.
43:45It's tucked away in the corner of the building, and it's furnished with all these fab 60s things.
43:51It's got great style.
43:53Well, how was upstairs?
43:59Oh, love it.
44:00The library is a fantastic, isn't it?
44:02It is special, isn't it?
44:03Super.
44:04Come and see my fish tank.
44:05Oh, look.
44:06Look at these boys.
44:07Yeah.
44:08Are they great?
44:09Yes.
44:10The fish tank divides the atrium from the bar.
44:13The shadows it casts are delightful.
44:17So now you're finally in, yeah?
44:20Finally.
44:21Are you happy?
44:23Oh, yes.
44:24Thrilled.
44:25Yeah, very happy indeed.
44:26Yes, it's come up to expectations.
44:28Has it really?
44:29Truly.
44:30I mean, have you learnt anything from doing this project that, you know, has been a surprise?
44:36Oh, Landry, we're never going to do it again.
44:40What?
44:41I mean, you're not going to do it again because you don't want to or because you're happy?
44:45No, because we've had enough.
44:46Not because we haven't enjoyed doing it.
44:48No.
44:49Because I think we have on the whole.
44:50But it is a bit stressful, anyway.
44:52We haven't got that much time left, I don't suppose.
44:55So we, you know, want to enjoy this.
44:57Is this method of building which has cracks and gaps and...
45:03Shakes.
45:04They're not cracks, they're shapes.
45:05They're not.
45:06They're not.
45:07I mean, is it something that is, is, is, it's more difficult to live with it because
45:14of the fact that you have, you've had a plague of flies, haven't you, for example?
45:17And you get, you get problems with the water hitting the wood, it makes tannin stains,
45:22for example, that has to be cleaned off and sandblasted back.
45:25I mean...
45:26Kevin, all you had to do is look up there and you don't think about the flies or the
45:32stains.
45:33It's so beautiful.
45:34Don't you think?
45:35Well...
45:36We sit here in the evening after dinner and we just...
45:38My God, we're lucky.
45:39It's such a bit gorgeous.
45:40So...
45:41Yes, there are the flies, but all you have to do is just sweep up the carcasses in the
45:46morning.
45:47It's a bit gritty underfoot.
45:48So one has to wear shoes or slippers or something, but you can suck them up.
45:58I mean, as the decoration for example, you haven't filled it with brand new furniture,
46:02have you?
46:03We have some.
46:04Yes.
46:05Some.
46:06This table, for example.
46:07Yes, this table and the sidewalk.
46:08But not these chairs?
46:09No, no.
46:10Oh, no, not these.
46:11You've got these very nice...
46:12I mean, I like them.
46:13They're very groovy 60s plastic.
46:15They have fiberglass chairs, swivel chairs, great, with a new glass-topped steel table.
46:20You didn't feel that perhaps it might look better to have chairs that work on the table?
46:25No, because the chairs...
46:26Well, there are chairs which have been designed to go with this furniture.
46:31We don't like them.
46:32The most uncomfortable chairs I've ever sat in.
46:35And these are beautiful.
46:36I'm not wanting to force steel chairs on you.
46:38I mean, we're not in the business of making it all look beautiful.
46:41We're in the business of comfort.
46:42Oh, hang on.
46:43You can accommodate both, surely.
46:46All right, all right.
46:47But anyway, we like these chairs.
46:50We're going to keep them.
46:51Fine.
46:52That's good.
46:53It's your house.
46:56But one thing I do want to ask you, though, Marjorie, is that you've got this collection
46:58of paintings which you adore, and you wanted, in making this home, to provide a space for them.
47:04Yes, that was difficult.
47:05Yeah, now that's what I was going to ask you, because you've got these walls.
47:08I mean, you haven't got a blank wall in the house, have you, really?
47:10Yeah.
47:11Because there's bits of wood and beams and, you know, braces going across each one,
47:14and some of them are hung across, as that one is, across the banisters for the stairwells.
47:19Yes.
47:20So, uh...
47:21We almost had a divorce over this.
47:23It was a position.
47:24I wanted to move it away from the banisters.
47:26Matters of taste are very personal.
47:42For what it's worth, I've always felt that the terrace outside was just too big and too
47:47high for this house.
47:49Dennis and Marjorie, of course, disagree with me.
47:53But what the heck.
47:55Rod has given them an exciting building which sits really rather well in the landscape,
48:01and which in many ways is environmentally friendly.
48:04And this is the real point.
48:06They love it.
48:08So, I can only salute them for doing what they've done at their time of life.
48:14It only goes to show that it's never too late to build your own grand design.