Building your own home: two Londoners built a "Toblerone castle" on an empty plot in Lewisham, they loved the challenge so much they built another - now worth £1.2m

Grit, determination and tramping round the streets in all weathers every weekend for 18 months isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, but that’s how Stephen Davies found the ridiculously small triangular plot of land in south-east London where he built his first house. And he has just built a second one in the same street.

Davies, 38, an architect, knew that the search for land would be hard. “Right from the start there were bigger players than me out there,” he says. But he had always wanted to build his own home, so he kept plodding on.

He came to London from Wales at 25, one of a group of friends that included a former school pal, Laura Lewis, also now 38. Like Davies she had trained as an architect, but she then retrained as a museum education consultant. At the same time that Davies began his weekend quests, the pair met up again and started dating.

FINDING PLOT ONE

Seriously methodical, Davies stuck a map on the wall and crossed out expensive areas. All of north London vanished in this way, so he focused his search south of the river, and on Lewisham in particular.

One day in 2008, he passed a little plot at the end of a terrace, overlooking the Quaggy river, with an old garage sitting on it. He traced its owner, who was retired and based in Bristol, and made him an offer in a letter. The owner agreed to sell.

With money tight, the couple designed a small triangular three-storey house with two upper courtyards. It completely filled the plot. Then they took a model round to the neighbours. Because of the river running alongside, the house had to be raised. Their plans quickly got planning permission, probably helped by the fact that there was a modern block of flats nearby.

That first sturdy little 1,100sq ft house by the river looks a bit like a Toblerone castle with a moat. Finished in 2009, they were happy in it for five years, but even so, after a year or so they started dreaming of doing it all again.

SECURING PLOT TWO

From their upper terrace, the couple saw, behind a high fence further down the street, a deserted rectangular wilderness. Davies discovered that it belonged to a housing association, so he made contact.

The association said it could only be sold once he had planning consent for a house. It wouldn’t enter into any contract until then, and everything would be at his own risk and expense. Davies reckons the process cost about £15,000, not counting all his own time and work.

His first suggestion to the planners, of a workshop-style two-storey house, didn’t fly, but after discussion, he designed a two-storey brick house, with windows to all sides, two small garden courtyards, and a flat roof that will eventually have sedum.

Boxy, done in sparrow grey brick, it is modest, cute, and the same height as the adjoining Victorian terrace.

FOLLOWING THE PLAN

Once the plans were signed off, the housing association sold him the plot, but with one proviso: the house would have to be built exactly as the plans said — in other words he couldn’t suddenly put up three storeys.

It took two years to buy the second plot, having made initial enquiries to the housing association in 2012. But full planning permission was granted in January 2014, work started in early 2015 and finished in summer last year, after a 16-month build.

Lewis wanted lots of light, good volumes to move around in, and the river nearby. The couple agree on most things, and both worked hard to source the look they wanted. Davies went on site daily at 7am, and again at night, as project manager.

The big downstairs, with its slate-look ceramic tiles is clean and bright, with light from all sides, plus a generous kitchen skylight.

In the kitchen-diner area, the cabinets are bespoke birch ply with a white Corian top, made special by hexagonal micro tiles grouted in gold along the back.

All the knobs and switches are brass, and the engine-turned, glowing metal makes a strong statement against plain white walls. Pocket doors open spaces up further.

They both wanted a feature staircase, and created a curved timber stair that rises beautifully in one corner, leading to the oak-floored upper level.

This house looks effortless now, but Davies compares it to running the marathon — once past the finish line you are exalted, but the race itself is bloody hard work.

The couple won the game. Not everyone would have the nerve to invest so much time and energy at their own risk.

Now they’ve used the only free plots in their street, they’re thinking about where to build next.

WHAT IT COST

First house (finished 2011)
Plot: £79,000
Build cost excluding all fees: £135,000
Sold in 2015: £695,000

Second house (finished last year)
Plot: £204,000
Build cost excluding all fees: £295,000
Value now (estimate): £1.2 million

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Photographs: David Butler and Anna Stathaki