New farm house design

Surgery

Member
Location
Oxford
Want to build a new farm house , got all the relevant paper work in order so no problem there it’s just design etc which we are slightly struggling with , as always the case with farm buildings you wish you did something different but don’t want this to be the case with a new build and home for the rest part of our life’s , anyone built something lately for ideas ? Thanks
 
Big boot room /roof space for hanging wetstuff
Plenty of Header tank storage room - ie for replacing in 20/50 years -
Rainwater harvested greywater system for everything but drinking water.
Concider roof access for chimney cleaning/valley clearances - nothing worse than poor design.

basically think about how you will repair/replace stuff in 10-20years as things break/become outdated.

Nearsite layout stuff is worth thinking about too conceder everything within 2mins walk of the location so as to think about how yoyu will move around the site. ie veg plot, car port, workshop etc./
 
Boot room with attached wet room- shower and sink so you can ditch dirty clothes and get cleaned up without even entering the house. Can also be used for cleaning the dog...

If you include a built in garage then you can use the space above it as space for exercise equipment/snooker table or put the farm office up there where you will get some peace.

I would get the electricians to put in a TV socket and ethernet port in all the main rooms and you can have pre-wired side lights all fed from a collection of switches at each entry point.
 

Hesstondriver

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Huntingdon
with out being morbid, think about future plans too

Will you need more space ? so easy to extend

is there a potential for needing an annex to care for elders ?

or an annex to be cared for yourself :ROFLMAO: .

sometimes simple things like a room that lends itself to be downstairs bathroom are dead easy to do when building but not so when trying to convert later on

and make sure the bog has good wifi for uninterrupted TFF time (y)
 
Agree with the above really. If you intend to be in the house forever then considering stairs and awkward access etc is worthwhile now. I'm not saying the whole place should be wheelchair friendly but it is worth thinking about getting around the gaff when you are older.

I like floor to ceiling windows I think they really set a place up and make the lighting easier on the eye.

I would definitely put a log burner/chimney in the centre of the house or main living spaces (between the lounge and the kitchen) so you heat both spaces from it. If you are the log burning sort of course- having a fireplace or log burner at the end of a house doesn't really make any sense when you think about it.
 

S J H

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
This is ours, we built it square so it was much cheaper, architect wanted to add more detail and shape, but it all adds a lot of money, we added the garage once we started the build, which has a boot room and utility.

I did a lot of work myself, but the price for sq. m was well under what was estimated. The only thing I’d of thought about more was the direction of south west wind, we are very exposed and it hammers the utility door, but hopefully more planting will help in years to come.

3F96A64C-D453-45DB-ACC1-20BD992537B2.jpeg
 

HatsOff

Member
Mixed Farmer
Over the lifetime of a house, 90% will be spent in running the property. So don't just do bare minimum Building Regulations - invest in energy saving, insulation and solar panels/batteries. They'll more than pay for themselves over the lifetime of the building.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Have you got stock? This makes a huge difference in design in my opinion having done 2 houses... ;)

Sheep about? The boot/garage general purpose room etc, needs a big, stainless double sink double drainer for mixing milk etc ; Possibly even a lamb warming area. Too much?? Not if it saves having to go outside on a cold night ...

Agree, a big drying room with heat or a de-humidifier would go on my next property, for clothes and dogs.

Future proof your central heating and DHW systems. Massive hot water store with the ability and controls, to take hot water or power from a number of sources. eg, wood boiler, solar PV, solar thermal, GSHP etc etc

Got pumped DHW here which is very nice indeed... make sure plumbers insulate the pipework really, REALLY well at install.

Make sure whatever you have, can cope without a mains electric supply in a power cut for heating!!!! Gennie friendly? Put in a change over switch for gennie ;) I used to run my previous house CH for a few hours with a 12v battery, an inverter through an LPG combi, then fitted the CoS as we has many power cuts in those days...

Underfloor heating...a must. To save money and to get a nice usable finish, use a screed that can be floated and polished. Nicer than tiles IMO and saves a fortune...

Multiple loos and at least 2 shower/bath rooms. Jack and Jill set-ups can work well.

Run CAT 6 ethernet cables everywhere, as it is more reliable than wi-fi in a big house... especially with foil lined insulation etc.

Design so as to make the house "old people" friendly... You WILL get there too.. :)
 
Last edited:

Timbo

Member
Location
Gods County
Have you got stock? This makes a huge difference in design in my opinion having done 2 houses... ;)

Sheep about? The boot/garage general purpose room etc, needs a big, stainless double sink double drainer for mixing milk etc ; Possibly even a lamb warming area. Too much?? Not if it saves having to go outside on a cold night ...

Agree, a drying room with heat or a de-humidifier would go on my next property, for clothes and dogs.

Future proof your central heating and DHW systems. Massive hot water store with the ability and controls, to take hot water or power from a number of sources. eg, wood boiler, solar PV, solar thermal, GSHP etc etc

Got pumped DHW here which is very nice indeed... make sure plumbers insulate the pipework really, REALLY well at install.

Make sure whatever you have, can cope without a mains electric supply in a power cut for heating!!!! Gennie friendly? Put in a change over switch for gennie ;) I used to run my previous house CH for a few hours with a 12v battery, an inverter through an LPG combi, then fitted the CoS as we has many power cuts in those days...

Underfloor heating...a must. To save money and to get a nice usable finish, use a screed that can be floated and polished. Nicer than tiles IMO and saves a fortune...

Multiple loos and at least 2 shower/bath rooms. Jack and Jill set-ups can work well.

Run CAT 6 ethernet cables everywhere, as it is more reliable than wi-fi in a big house... especially with foil lined insulation etc.

Design so as to make the house "old people" friendly... You WILL get there too.. :)
^^^^ all of this is spot on
 

flowerpot

Member
Someone I know built a new house and put in a shower next to the garage, but they only use it for the dogs .. but its there .

Is the kitchen going to overlook the yard, so you can see who is coming and going all the time, not stuck at the back, even with a nice view.

One new build I saw had the garage/utility/back kitchen on the side, with a door leading into the kitchen at one end, but this made a sort "corridor" as there was another door opposite into the hall. So people were passing behind Mrs. as she was at the sink and she said if it was done again it would be different. This kitchen was huge, it was at least 1/3 of the ground floor, had the Aga half way along, a big kitchen table and a sofa at the end with french doors to the back.

Agree with doing as much as possible with insulation, etc. etc. to future proof the house. Houses built with good insulation hardly need heating.

You can buy a house built in a factory which is transported to your site and put up quickly.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Have you got any examples of this? I'm doing a barn at the moment and not heard of this
Cursed big time when I found out from the screed people, AFTERWARDS... Often used in industrial areas for easy clean etc... Much like farm kitchens ;)

They put different aggregate to give a more aesthetic look to the finish, which is floated and polished. Saw one lot looked like marble...ish.

Best thing is to speak to a specialist screed supplier and get their guidance on materials
 
We have nearly just completed phase one of a two phase build.

Spend plenty of time on Instagram & Pinterest for ideas but when the house build starts.. close the apps and never look at them again.. how my builder hasn't punched my wife yet I will never know lol.

I couldn't stress enough how important really thinking about every detail is and have detailed plans for everything. We did wing it a bit at the start of the build but eventually it catches up on you and that defiantly wont be happening for phase 2 this year.

And sometimes you have to make mistakes at it to get them right, I know after we had first fix electrics done we had a real moment of what were we thinking, we had to get them back and redone as really wasn't happy with the plug layouts.
 

primmiemoo

Member
Location
Devon
Make reinforced hatches to accommodate a lift between floors when needed. They don't have to be huge. Consider installing a cloam oven or similar, because you just don't know what you will need for cooking.
 

mo!

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
York
Build it square, south facing with big windows and lots of insulation, small windows on the north side. You should be able to live on the ground floor, wet room off the boot room with laundry next to it. Boiler in the garage, underfloor downstairs and maybe a log burner. If it is insulated right you won't need it. Cat 6 everywhere, twice as many 13A double sockets as you think. MVHR is a given. Corbelling rather than soffits will pay in the long run. Insulate, insulate, insulate.
 

Werzle

Member
Location
Midlands
Make reinforced hatches to accommodate a lift between floors when needed. They don't have to be huge. Consider installing a cloam oven or similar, because you just don't know what you will need for cooking.
Might as well go the whole hog and have a panic room too🤣. Dont get carried away is my advice, no point building something you cannot afford to live in. Insulation is great until the house is to too hot to sleep in during the summer. A great many new houses are no good for anybody coming home dirty too, need a tradesmans entrance
 

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