Grand Designs Live House of the Year is Eco
by Bonnie Alter, London 
on 05.14.08
Grand Designs Live, the slightly addictive t.v. show about house renovations, has named its Voters' Choice Home of the Year, 2008. Winner of the Best Conversion category, Black Sheep House went on to beat off all the other contenders to win the overall prize. That is quite a feat because some of the other houses were far more sophisticated, designer, and stylish. Instead voters went for a sweet hippy house on a remote corner of the Hebrides islands overlooking the sea. Its turf roof and gently curved stone walls blend into the surroundings; so much so that the house cannot be made out in an aerial photograph.
The husband of the two-some is a professional dry-stone waller, so he was able to do all the stone work himself with occasional help. He started with 3 stone walls and a tin roof; the remains of a sheep shed. He left the original walls in place and added to them to extend the height of the building and double its original size. A turf roof was installed, with the sod being hand-cut and lifted up by ladder, piece by piece. The turf weighed several tons, so this part of the work took three to four months of physical labour. At one point it was almost lifted off by strong winds. It was all done on an extremely low budget, which didn't turn out to be enough, of course, so the place is now rented to tourists. If you are looking for an award-winning, exotic, remote getaway, here's the place. :: Grand Designs Live
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
Slightly addictive, renovators crack cocaine!
That's pretty cool, I'm looking to do something similar when I move back to NY to start my own ecovillage. The house style I like the best is Simon Dales:
http://www.simondale.net/house/
We plan on doing an entire village in the same general style. With a little help from modern technology, you can get an underground dome home in the same format, except it's professionally done and installed if you don't have the required carpentry/plumbing/electric skills. Can't wait :)
Way nice living space. Very much my style. And thanks a lot Cybercat for the link:
http://www.simondale.net/house/
I also feel the same as you. After my present job situation is finished. I am ready to join them.
just a shame that the inside doesn't reflect the scottish hertiage and landscape...
The builders of Black Sheep House, Miles of Harris Construction, commissioned me to create a 360 degree immersive image (virtual tour type) of the interior about halfway through the build. It shows the amazing joinery work of the roof and the framework of the building before it was plastered and covered up. If it's of any interest, you can view it on their site milesofharrisconstruction that's both .com and .co.uk