A long time before sustainability and eco-friendliness became buzz words, Heather Dean was collecting for recycling. When she moved to rural Fife to be near her family, Dean envisaged living in an environmentally savvy cottage. She has gone the extra green mile.

“I started collecting newspapers to recycle, back in 1972, long before the majority of people did. I also organised a paper collection in the village I was living in,” says Dean. “I got into Agenda 21 in Cambridgeshire — an initiative that looked into new recycling ideas. My late husband and I were in the local composting scheme too; we collected compost every week and sold it to villages in the area. My son said recently that I was about 20 years ahead of my time,” she says.

When Heather decided to retire to Fife, she approached her son-in-law, Alasdair Baird, who is an architect, to infuse her ideas into a design for a sustainable home. “I asked Alasdair to build me an eco bungalow, which has since become known as an eco cottage. I told him that if he could, I’d come to Scotland,” says Dean.

The original plan was to design a new-build home. However, securing land in rural Fife proved difficult. Eventually, Heather bought two farm cottages with land attached. The site comprised three plots, one of which was sold prior to the development of Heather’s new home and another was sold with planning permission when she moved in.

“I wanted to design a house with character for my mother-in-law, who I’ve known for over 20 years,” says Baird. “Her tastes are quite traditional, so it wasn’t going to be a minimalist modern house. I wanted to reflect her many interests, which include gardening, botany, dyeing, spinning and weaving natural fibres, and provide her with an inspirational home that will also accommodate her requirements as she gets older,” he says.

Essentially, Heather’s new house has been created by altering and extending the two small semi-detached workers’ cottages. Two existing bedrooms have been retained and integrated into a large extension, which features a living room, kitchen, dining room, study, utility room and bathroom.

“We’re quite close to other houses, so I was keen to keep the building low with discreet elements. The new building replaced a collection of glass sheds and outbuildings. As it is not one big structure, it is not too dissimilar to what was there before. By breaking it up into parts with different functions, it fits into its context,” says Baird.

A green oak frame from Carpenter Oak & Woodland in Kirriemuir, Angus, was chosen for the building’s principal structure. “Its strength, bulk, weight and workability creates the physical and emotional heart of the project,” says Baird. The oak frame frees other elements of the building, which allows for non-loadbearing external walls. These spaced-stud timber-frame walls are lightweight and packed with recycled newspaper for insulation. Panelvent sheathing also creates a breathing wall construction. The walls are clad externally with either home-grown larch boarding or reclaimed slates.

The cylindrical utility room (designed to accommodate Heather’s fabric dyeing) and chimney are stand-alone elements built using lime mortar from locally reclaimed sandstone. In contrast, an old, grey quarry stone has been used for the dry-stone cladding of the sub-structure blockwork. “We were very lucky with the skilled stone masons, joiners and various trades we used. The skill and finishes are very professional,” says Baird.

The new roof structure, which features sheep’s wool insulation, links to the existing cottage by having a duo pitch and being covered in reclaimed pan tiles. A contrasting shallow-pitched curved roof covered with sedum planting provides extended shelter to one side. The utility and sunroom act as linking elements and are clad in reclaimed slate and solar-control glazing, respectively. The main door has been constructed using timber from a Douglas fir that had to be removed from the site at the start of the project.

Green elements inside the house include organic paint finishes and natural linoleum flooring. Heating is supplied via a ground-source heat pump system, which supplies both underfloor heating and domestic hot water.

Grant assistance from the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative covered about 30% of the system costs. Rainwater is collected in reclaimed whisky barrels for reuse in the garden. “At one stage, I also wanted straw-bale walls, but that was deemed impractical,” says Dean.

“Heather wanted an environmentally friendly house and every move we made, including keeping the two bedrooms in the existing house, was the most sustainable way to develop the site,” says Baird. “It would have been more cost-effective to knock the cottages down and build from scratch; we had to pay full VAT, because the main body of the house is effectively an extension. Whereas, if we knocked down the bedrooms, we would have been able to build a new house exempt from VAT.”

During the 12-month construction of her £200,000 eco home, Heather stayed in one of the cottages on site.

“I found the construction really interesting,” she says. “Before living in my thatched cottage in Cambridgeshire, I had lived in bog-standard estate houses.

“I’ve never been involved in the creation of any house I’ve lived in, so it was great to see it emerge from the foundations up. I took a pictorial record of it all. Every time something new happened, I trotted out with my wellies and took a snap. But I wasn’t supervising — Alasdair made that very clear.

“Having Alasdair as my architect paid off; he understood what I wanted and only lives a few miles away. He would bring my grandsons along while the construction was going on. The children loved visiting the site,” says Dean. “It was a very positive experience.”

While Heather enjoyed the construction process, it was not always easy. “Organising the bridging loan was the only big hassle — everything else went smoothly,” she says. “I managed to stay within my budget. I had paid off the mortgage on my previous house, and I had various funds available when I retired. I was very pleased to get a grant for the heat pump, which also helped.

“I’m settled here, now. It’s a super house. I wouldn’t change anything about it.” says Dean. “If I were to single out a highlight it would be the view from the sun lounge. One thing I really wanted was a sun lounge, so Alasdair took great consideration into designing it. I love sitting out there and taking in the views. The house is also very cosy, in fact, the wood-burning stove is mainly for decoration.”

Alasdair Baird, 01337 857 453

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