Some things are worth the wait, and for Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud returning to a site hidden away in the Cotswolds where couple Jon and Noreen wanted to build a treehouse home would mean a wait of seven years as part of a decade-long project. The years of challenges, endless hard work building it themselves, and a strict budget of just £300,000 took the couple to the emotional and physical extremes.
The couple had purchased the land in Dursley in 2013 for £85,000 with no planning consent and had plans to realise their dream of living in a house amongst the trees. But when the programme first visited in 2016 it was already hitting problems. To get all the latest property , homes and programme news straight to your inbox twice a week sign up here.
Plumber Jon and ceramic artist Noreen loved the 30 protected trees on the site but they were the cause of the first headache: planning. They wanted a house that comprised of three, anti-gravity boxes sitting on top of each other, rising 40 feet up into the tree canopy.
In 2016 Jon was quite philosophical, quipping, "We've either got a very expensive garden or a very well-priced building plot. We approached the council and they said no way, but if we could make something truly different that adds to the local community we stand a chance on that basis." There were celebrations when the planning did eventually come through but the conditions attached were harsh. They must not disturb any of the trees or their roots, so fixing the house to the land was going to be a very big challenge - no concrete foundations at this site.
The challenge was so huge that the couple ended up working with three different structural engineers but they, with the architects Millar Howard Workshop, came up with a plan to anchor the house with slender screw piles. To protect the tree roots there would be no use of concrete but a steel metal frame above ground connected to the piles and given cross support diagonally between the beams above the ground. That was the plan anyway.
Then three different-sized wooden boxes were built, where the ground floor created a studio for Noreen wrapped in polished steel sheeting to reflect the surroundings and give the building the appearance of floating. Eight months into the project and 16 screw piles arrive but by March 2015 the couple were still waiting for detailed structural drawings and Jon felt the mounting pressure, trying to earn a living at the same time as building the house, working evenings and weekends, and seeing the budget being swallowed up.
The access was challenging, the sloping site added extra headaches and the trees were too precious to get anything wrong. Two years in and despite amazing help from school mates and old friends from the town where Jon grew up, it became exhausting. He said, "Sometimes I think we've taken on too much, I could do with a break now, but we've got to get it water tight."
Already the couple had spent £15,000 on the steel frame and £14,000 on engineering fees and when Kevin visited in 2016 the treehouse was nowhere near completed and the couple were still living on site in the garden cabin, which is at least a step up from a rusty old caravan. But the treehouse was nowhere near finished and they had spent £270,000 of the budget.
Kevin has seen this scenario many times on Grand Designs: "This building is turning into a monster that threatens to devour them and the consequences are plain to see. Buildings do that. They have a habit of draining every ounce of reserve out of you and at the same time they play this game because they can also inspire you. At this stage this building is leading them on, it's giving them some hope, it's suggesting that actually everything is going to be alright in the end, but they are absolutely on a knife-edge here, they are playing, with the building a game of dare devil."
So when Kevin revisited the site in 2023 for the final time, he was wondering what he would find, and as the larch-clad treehouse comes into view he is speechless. Eventually he exclaimed, 'it's beautiful!' - high praise indeed from the presenter who has visited a myriad of grand designs over the years. Noreen's studio was finished and a hive of creative activity, with its metal cladding totally successful on hiding this ground level and giving the above two boxes the appearance of floating - a vision they'd had a decade ago.
Kevin met the couple on the middle floor, a living space with a wraparound veranda that seemed to hang amongst the trees, offering foliage that is within touching distance. The larch cladding has faded to a silvery tone perfectly matching the bark of the trees that surround it.
The treehouse has a large L-shaped living space with kitchen diner and lounge and four bedrooms with ensuites, and 12 foot high walkway through the trees to the front door as the first interaction with the home and its flourishing natural garden that surrounds it.
The view from the kitchen sink is somewhat invaded by a new housing estate being born next door, but from this elevated position the views through the tree canopy are still captivating. The trees are happy with this new neighbour too, they might even be thriving, with Noreen saying that they put special medicine on the tree roots to look after them, with the ethos of looking after the outside space to encourage biodiversity that is more like woodland management than gardening.
She said, "You can build a house and increase the wildlife and I'm pretty confident we've done that, there's more wildlife here than when we came and surely that can only be a good thing. We are full of love for the house, the area and what it's given us and hopefully what we've given back."
Kevin continued to wander around the garden and was impressed again with another, surprise renovation that has occurred to their long-term former home - the cabin has had a makeover and is now used as a comfortable guest annexe.
Getting the treehouse finished had taken a huge effort with the help of many friends and family, sourcing cheap internal fixtures, like the old gymnasium flooring, and using upcycled, reclaimed and recycled items as well as repurposing furniture they already had. The result of their creativity meant the budget only just wandered over the £300k mark and left the couple with the enviable position of being mortgage free.
Kevin is very impressed, again. He said, "The culmination of your expediency, the desire to recycle and reinvent, and doing so much yourselves and with friends, in the community where you grew up, all these things point to massive savings. Congratulations, its seamlessly integrated and yet has the sense that it is all meant to be here."
Throughout the 10 year journey for the couple and seven year story for the Grand Design viewers Kevin has been in awe of Jon and Noreen's commitment to their vision. He said, "Would you go and buy a piece of land without planning permission, would you invest in experimental ground anchors with no concrete? But do you know, the biggest experiment of all that's taken place over the last seven years has happened out here, where they took the site, built on it and in so doing they have not trashed the place but instead enhanced the biodiversity.
"They built a dwelling for human species to live in and in so doing created an environment for many other species to thrive out here - how amazing is that? If they had not been willing to take chances on the unusual they would be settling for the ordinary, and this house is so far from that."
The new series of Grand Designs starts on Channel 4, that includes revisiting homes from previous series, is available to catch-up on Channel 4 streaming service, and don't miss the best dream homes, renovations and interior design in Wales - join the Amazing Welsh Homes newsletter, and the Amazing Welsh Homes Facebook group.
