Appointing builders and an afternoon in Exeter 

This week we took another step forward and formally appointed our builder. We’ve been to see some of his work over the last couple of weeks and were very impressed by the quality of his finished build and the cleanliness of his in-progress site. We did have two builders we were considering but the odds were stacked in favour of our final choice – he was available 6 months earlier than our second option; he came recommended by two separate people; and his pricing ended up being a bit cheaper. And the fact that his work is of such high standard helped make the choice for us. 

It’s a pretty nerve-wracking step though as it means we’re committed to starting the building around October time, and we still need to submit at least three new planning applications for various different parts of the project. The two applications we’ve had approved so far contain ‘conditions’ that mean we require council approval for our detailed designs – including approval for the materials we’re planning to use – which means adding a few more months to our timings. Things are starting to feel tight! Our architect is doing an amazing job and putting lots of effort into pulling everything together for us – but it’s hard having to rely on other people who are stacked with work already and have us in a ‘queue’.  

It does mean we’re into the fun part of choosing our interior design style for the different cottages, so Pinterest is going to get some serious use over the next few weeks! There are just so many options to choose from, it’s going to be hard to establish where to start from. We’re thinking a modern country vibe, but how that translates into rainwater goods (gutters), and sanitary ware (bathrooms) in particular requires some thinking!! 

Having visitors this weekend gave us an opportunity to explore a bit of Exeter. We took the dog with us and had a lovely lunch at the quay, followed by a walk up to the suspension bridge and down the other side of the river – beautiful in the spring sunshine. We then walked up the hill to Exeter Cathedral – sadly we’d missed the recent ‘moon’ display but the inside was still very impressive to look round (taking it in turns, sadly the cathedral isn’t dog-friendly).  

It would have been a wasted chance not to make the most of the shopping too – between the High Street and the outdoor shopping arcade Princesshay, it felt like you could get almost anything! Something we’ve definitely missed moving out to a small village… With Exeter being only 30 minutes’ drive from our house, it’ll be an easy day trip for our future guests and so we’re keen to learn plenty of tips to pass on to them!