An oak framed contemporary high performance family home in Herefordshire
Pushing the boundaries of modern oak frame living, Managing Director Charlie Mills and his wife Helen’s contemporary Herefordshire home is a bold vision for creating an achievable optimum living environment. Built using high performance WrightWall Natural panels, Aerobarrier airtightness technology and an advanced ventilation system, their home consistently delivers exceptional comfort, energy efficiency and wellbeing every day.
Project Details
- Herefordshire
- 2024
- Bespoke
- 279m2
- £3000m2
- Farmhouse
- 4
Finding a building plot for sale
Charlie and Helen’s journey to Cherry Orchard began soon after completing their first self-build home, Church Cottage. Having enjoyed both the experience and the lifestyle offered by self-building, they had thoughts on building again to better suit their growing family.
“We enjoyed the process and started to think about our next project,” explains Charlie. “A plot became available but then Covid arrived. Escalating material costs meant we paused our plans and that plot was sold.”
Unable to find another plot, Charlie and Helen looked at the property market. This decision turned out to be very fortuitous. “We’d just booked a viewing when we had a call about a plot. It was ideally located down a quiet lane and we had the potential to buy some additional land. We agreed a deal on the plot within 24 hours!” explains Charlie.
Choosing to build with oak
An oak framed home was never in doubt for Charlie and Helen. Having helped many clients create their own bespoke oak framed homes, Charlie understands firsthand the architectural benefits as well as the enduring appeal of building with oak.
“Cherry Orchard is about pushing the boundaries of future construction whilst maintaining achievability for self-builders,” he explains.
Their home was designed by Oakwrights’ in-house architectural team in a contemporary farmhouse style, blending traditional proportions and natural materials with clean modern details. The design process focused heavily on both aesthetics and performance from the very beginning.
At the heart of the build are Oakwrights’ premium insulated panel systems: WrightWall Natural and WrightRoof Natural. These highly insulated natural panel systems form a super insulated building envelope, working alongside triple glazing Rationel windows and Aerobarrier airtightness technology to dramatically reduce heat loss.
Working with our teams
The oak frame has been carefully designed to complement family life. Oak frame designer Sarah worked closely with the architectural team to ensure the structure enhanced the layout without compromising practicality.
“Details such as avoiding braces interfering with kitchen cupboards, positioning posts to maximise glazing and ensuring ventilation ducting could be concealed all made a huge difference,” explains Charlie.
The family selected elegant king post trusses with clean lines that perfectly join roof purlins, exposing oak detailing throughout to create a warm and characterful interior and generous vaulted spaces upstairs.
External key design features
Cherry Orchard successfully balances contemporary design with rural Herefordshire character. The front of the house is a focal point and incorporates a range of visual features, including mixed bond Flemish red brickwork, render, horizontal weatherboarding beneath a traditional clay tiled roof and carefully balanced glazing.
The integrated garage plays an important role both in terms of appearance and practicality. The garage was designed as part of the overall scheme from the outset for an elegantly cohesive feel and features self-contained accommodation above.
“Every day we’re grateful for the practical design ideas,” says Helen. “Our integrated garage with direct access into the boot room is a real bonus, especially during wet winters with children and dogs.”
The garage also houses the thoughtfully designed plant room. It was sized specifically in collaboration with Total Home Environment during the early design stage to accommodate their advanced ventilation and heating system.
Internal Key Design Features
Inside, Charlie and Helen’s home has been designed entirely around modern family life. The layout centres on a large open plan shaker-style kitchen handmade by local company Harts Woodworking, with a light and bright dining space.
Adjacent to the kitchen is a separate snug that doubles as a playroom, giving the family flexibility and allowing younger children to remain close by whilst maintaining calm in the main living area.
As a young family, practical spaces were equally important in the design. A utility room, separate laundry room, boot room and extensive built-in storage all help the house function smoothly on a daily basis.
Upstairs, vaulted ceilings add a sense of volume and light to the bedrooms. The master bedroom suite includes a dressing area and ensuite, while three additional bedrooms provide ample space for the family.
An eco high performance home
The true standout feature of Cherry Orchard is its exceptional environmental performance and indoor living environment.
Charlie’s ambition was to create a home that consistently maintains perfect comfort levels whilst using minimal energy. At the centre of this approach is the Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) system installed by Total Home Environment.
The system continuously supplies fresh filtered air into the home whilst recovering heat from extracted air, maintaining a consistent internal temperature of around 21°C. “Whether it’s -3°C or 36°C outside, the house consistently sits at 21°,” beams Charlie.
Since moving into their home, the family’s understanding of heating and comfort has been transformed. “We no longer think about turning our heating on and off,” Charlie explains. “The house simply maintains the temperature naturally thanks to the well-designed insulation, airtightness and ventilation strategy.”
The property runs entirely on electricity, with no oil or gas connection, and solar panels support energy generation during the sunnier months.
Charlie also incorporated smart home technology through Baulogic automation systems, allowing the heating, cooling and lighting systems to be monitored and controlled remotely.
A home for the future, enjoyed today
Cherry Orchard is not only a family home but also a real-life testing ground for the future of Oakwrights’ high performance and energy efficient oak framed homes. It’s an inspiring demonstration of how an outstanding living environment can be an achievable goal for modern self-builders.
“I know how this house feels on a daily basis,” says Charlie. “Living in our exceptional home allows us to categorically say how our building envelope performs. It meets the future standards of home building today.”
Charlie and Helen’s home building top tips
1. Focus on creating a healthy living environment by thinking about insulation, airtightness and ventilation holistically, rather than achieving a target EPC rating. Invest in your building fabric first.
2. Don’t forget to include and design practical everyday spaces such as boot rooms, utility rooms and storage carefully.
3. Smart home controls can improve both comfort and efficiency when integrated properly.
