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History
The Site

 


One of the agents we were dealing with contacted us some 3 months after the revised brief was issued. He had a bungalow on a large plot (.66 acre). I was in his office within an hour and on the site shortly afterwards.

The advantages of the site were: -

No building line
No building style needed to be followed
Land was GB5 development.
Pleasant views to the rear of the plot (Open green belt)
Site on an unregistered road (quiet)
It had mains gas
As we subsequently discovered there was a mains waste spur pipe to the property
There was a mature garden

The disadvantages: -

The site was so overgrown you could not see across it from any position.
There was a wire fence within the boundary of the property making it look smaller and wherever this occurs there is also the potential for boundary dispute.
It was a probate sale.
Access / egress onto the unregistered road was poor.
As we subsequently discovered it was not on mains waste.

After the viewing my first call was to the Planning Office. By good fortune the Senior Planning Officer I had met previously was the case officer for the site. After a discussion with him it seemed the site offered a reasonably open canvas and that purchase would be worthwhile.

 
 


Cloud 8 is to be located on a wooded site on the edge of a Chiltern village. Access is gained from the narrow tree lined lane to the east side of the site. The site has mature trees on the east and northern boundaries with views over open fields to the west. The site slopes down from north to south and west to east.

Trees on site include a number of Lawson Cypresses, 2 Oaks, an Alder, Irish Yew, 3 Beech trees, 3 Apples, 3 Sycamores, Field Maple, Horse Chestnut, Cotoneaster, and a Scots pine. There are also a number of other trees including Hawthorn but in this company they do not merit a mention.
A lady whose principal house was in Harley Street purchased the cottage (a 1930's bungalow) as a weekend home. She was an enthusiastic and experienced gardener. The house was then sold to the lady from whom we purchased it via probate lawyers.

When we started carefully clearing the undergrowth we found wonderful collections of plants and shrubs. We salvaged these and relocated them to a safe place with the intention of reintroducing them to the garden after completion.

We found many numbered lead bands. Clearly the first owner had catalogued her planting. It must have been a much-loved pastime and place. We also discovered the most enormous underground water storage facility measuring 12ft deep by 6ft diameter, which irrigated the lower plot of ground the first owner rented. This lower plot now has 3 houses located on what was part of a very large cottage garden.