Peak District

Ecologist Fred and communications manager Saffron live in a beautiful village in the highly protected Peak District. After 15 years of saving and planning, they’re finally able to start building their large new family home on a steep slope on the edge of the village. Desperate not to annoy their neighbours their innovative design features just one storey visible from the main road, but two more storeys buried out of sight lower down the slope.

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The start of construction proves more a feat of civil engineering than a house build, with the difficulty of excavating into solid limestone compounded by an incredibly steep and muddy access road for the heavy machinery. Then when their self-build mortgage falls through, work stops for months. It’s a major test of Saffron and Fred’s commitment and resolve, when all they have to show for years of effort is a huge hole in the ground...