We built the UK’s ‘cheapest’ house for just £27,000 – it was featured at Grand Designs but it was cursed and ended in disaster
A FAMILY built Britain’s cheapest house for just £27,000 and it was even featured at Grand Designs – but the project was cursed and ended in disaster.
The fire at the Ecopad on New Year’s Day 2018 left Simon and Jasmine Dale and their two children homeless.
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The couple started the project in the eco-village of Lammas in Pembrokeshire, West Wales with just £500 in the bank and the house itself took six years to build.
The house appeared on Channel 4’s Grand Designs show in 2016, known for its ambitious housing projects and unique architectural works.
It impressed host Kevin McCloud with its innovative design, and he praised the couple as “true role models” for sustainable living.
McCloud told viewers, “This will not be a cramped hobbit house, but a spacious, solid, eco-friendly three bedroom family home.”
The family originally built the eco house because they wanted an outdoor lifestyle and a life in the country.
But disaster struck when a faulty electric heater started a fire while Jasmine was home alone.
The rest of the Dale family was visiting relatives a few miles away.
It was a devastating coincidence that their first eco-estate also burned to the ground.
Known as ‘The Hobbit House’, it was built in 2003 using £3,000 worth of materials including bales of straw.
“We’re still in complete shock, I can’t tell you how I feel. But we know that feeling, our first house burned down, so I guess we’ve been here before,” Jasmine said The Telegraph at that time.
She added, “We’re trying to hope this will be a blessing and we’ve received so much love, but we know we can’t rebuild this home.”
Andy Wells, a close friend and neighbor, continued, “She was able to get out safely and then had to stand there while the home they built and loved disappeared in a short time.”
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“We got in touch with Simon but we told him not to come – it would have been too much for him and the kids to see.”
Up to 20 firefighters fought for six hours to save the house and the fire was stopped before it reached the eight other houses in the village.
Dai Swan, group leader for Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said the straw material made it difficult to put out the fire-damaged house.
He said: “It is deeply heartbreaking for the crews to see the level of craftsmanship that has gone into these frames.” it was damaged by fire.”
A year after the fire, Jasmine said they will forever miss the location and the great design they created.
she said Wales Online: “I will miss the wonderful people, we really integrated into the community. We went from a bare field to a house with very diverse landscaped gardens with hundreds if not thousands of birds, trees, plants and insects and we created everything from scratch.
“It’s a big deal to leave it, but we can put down roots again, we have experience.”
Dad Simon added: “We decided we didn’t have what it takes to convert the house to suit our children, now 14 and 15.”
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Over the past decade, the family has added 10,000 trees and plants, 1,500 square meter greenhouses and a shared hydroelectric turbine to their five-hectare smallholder farm.
The Dales put the property up for sale in 2019 for £290,000, including planning permission for the new four-bedroom eco-home.
The property was originally built using rammed earth for the floors while the structure was made of round wooden poles.
Waste glass was also used in the manufacture of the windows.
Introduced in Season 17, the Low Impact House was the most over-budget grand design of all time – a whopping 5,300% more than the original starting total.
While filming with Grand Designs, Simon said, “I don’t think I could quantify it, but I can feel it in my heart at the end of the day walking around and seeing the bats flying around and hearing the birds singing.”
“It was hard and I didn’t want an easy life. I like challenges. Having a hard day’s work and feeling tired at the end of the day. This exhaustion is a nice feeling.”
You can read more about the property Here.