The sheet

the card's own material, at page scale

drawing 077 / Real things

Self-Build House

statusrendered

drawing077

sheets17

revD

issued8 Nov 2026

updates3

The brief

rendered · rev D

A three-bedroom house one person can build bit by bit, for the lowest total cost. A plain L of silver larch under steep dark slate, in a walled paddock in the Peak District. The bedrooms are tucked into the roof, so one set of foundations and one roof cover two floors. Every piece can be carried by one person, and the house is lived in long before it's finished.

This is concept rev B: renders, plans, a section, a 3D model, a render kit, the build in four phases and a rough cost.

the idea

The brief was the cheapest way to build a house with hand tools, almost no lifting gear and money that comes in stages. The answer is a compact timber frame on concrete pads, with the bedrooms inside a steep roof. The whole shell goes up first, in one season. The ground floor becomes a complete one-bedroom home with its own shower room. The two upstairs bedrooms and bathroom are finished later, indoors, at whatever pace the money allows.

Everything is chosen for cost and for one pair of hands. Wall panels are 1.2 m wide, rafters weigh about 25 kg, windows are off-the-shelf sizes, and the slates are light enough to carry up a bundle at a time. The larch boards are left untreated to weather silver, so there's no staining, ever.


Usable floor	about 105 m², 3 bedrooms
Footprint	68 m²
Ridge	6.8 m, 45° roofs
To move in downstairs	£86k – £154k
Whole house, DIY labour	£95k – £170k

the shape

Part	Decision
Plan	An L. Wing 1, 9.0 × 5.4 m, along the north; wing 2, 5.4 × 3.6 m, beyond it to the south at the east end
Roofs	Two simple gables, 45°, one ridge height, meeting in a single valley. No dormers, no chimney stack, no porch
Walls	Vertical untreated larch boards, weathered silver, with slim dark grey corner trims
Roof	Dark grey fibre-cement slates, thin verges, a lead-lined valley, black half-round gutters
Windows	Standard-size casements in slim anthracite frames. One roof window, over the bath
Base	Concrete pads under a timber deck 0.45 m up, behind a low dark skirting over a strip of gravel
Heat	A wood stove, with a slim black steel flue through the north slope. A heat pump is optional and comes last
Yard	The south-west corner of the L: sheltered on two sides, flagged, gets the evening sun

the parts

Floors. The ground floor, fitted out in phase 2 as a complete one-bedroom home; the floor in the roof, finished in phase 3; and the section.
Rooms. The four rooms that have been rendered: the kitchen and living room, the hall and stair, a bedroom in the roof and the bathroom.
Render kit. All fourteen prompts, each with the model screenshot it is given and, where there is one, the render it made.
Building it. The four phases, from permissions to the VAT claim, and the things to know.
Cost. The rough cost by phase.

the model

The model below is the concept book's own, rebuilt on the site's shared stage. Its four views are the cameras the render kit's screenshots were taken from. Show rafters makes the skin see-through to show the frame, the upper floor and the pads. The two cuts show each floor's plan. The roof window sits on the main wing's slope facing the yard, just west of the valley, where the renders put it. That is also over the bath, but only in the bathroom's north-west corner, high on the slope, so the bathroom is open to the roof and the bath runs along the stair wall with one end under the window. The roof plan is redrawn to match, and it also gains a corridor to bedroom 2, which the concept book's plan had no way into. On the ground floor, bedroom 1 and the shower room are reached through the kitchen and the utility, because the stair is in the way.

the renders

Fourteen renders made with ChatGPT image generation, nine of them from screenshots of the model, so details drift. The model and the plans are the reference. Three views have a second take, and their first takes are on their render-kit pages.

From the yard, summer evening. The cover. The roof window, the yard and the open back door all landed.
Arrival from the north. The quiet north wall, the oak door under its canopy, the track and the gate.
Aerial. The second take keeps the roof window, which the first lost. The shed, the vegetable patch and the washing line came through.
The yard at dusk and coming home at night. Every window warm; then one light at the door and one upstairs.
January. Snow on both roofs and smoke from the flue. The second take keeps the roof window, with a bench in place of the chairs.
East side, late autumn. The stile came out as timber with a bench, which the prompt asked it not to be.
Kitchen, hall, bedroom and bathroom. Small, plain and lived in, as asked. The bathroom is the second take, open to the roof with the bath under the window.
Floor deck and first walls, rafters up, roofing and boarding. The three build stages. Rafters up has lost the knee walls, and its second wing barely projects.

Self-Build House phased concept (detailed cost table and build sequence) ↗

The plates

17 · lift any one out

The house from the south-west on a summer evening, looking into the corner of the L, with a low sun from the west, a meadow of long grass and cow parsley in front and gritstone edges on the skyline. Two steep dark slate roofs of one ridge height meet in a valley, over walls of vertical larch boards weathered silver-honey with slim dark corner trims. One roof window sits in the main wing's slope facing the yard, near the valley, and a slim black flue rises behind. In the corner, a flagged yard with an old oak table and mismatched chairs, two timber raised beds of herbs and lavender, and the glazed back door standing open onto a lit room with shelves of books. A neat stack of split logs at the west gable, small anthracite-framed windows in both wings, and an old broad tree, dry stone walls, a field gate and sheep beyond. — 01 · The house from the south-west on a summer evening

The north side on a spring morning, from the gravel track where it comes through a gap in a dry stone wall, past an open timber field gate, with daffodils along the wall and hawthorn in blossom on the left. A plain long larch wall under a steep dark slate roof, with a slim black flue on the roof. A plain vertical-boarded oak front door under a small black steel canopy, with a sandstone step, a pair of green wellies and a terracotta pot of rosemary beside it. The kitchen window to the right of the door, to the west, and the east gable on the left with the corridor window and the landing window above it. Green fields, sheep, trees and gritstone edges behind. — 02 · The north side on a spring morning

Aerial view from a drone to the south-west at summer midday. The L of two steep dark slate roofs meeting in a valley, with the one roof window on the main wing's slope facing the yard, just west of the valley, and the black flue on the north slope. Silver larch walls on a strip of pale gravel. In the corner, the flagged yard with an oak table, two raised beds of herbs and lavender and a washing line, and a log store at the west gable. To the west, a small timber shed and a fenced vegetable patch. A gravel track comes in from the north through a gate in the dry stone wall, and a stream lined with trees runs along the valley below walled fields and limestone edges. Off brief: the yard table has no chairs. — 03 · Aerial view from a drone to the south-west at summer midday

The yard at blue hour in high summer, from low at its edge, with a deep blue sky going pink over the hills behind. Every window glows warm amber, and the glazed back door stands open on a stove, bookshelves and lamps. Jam-jar lanterns and flowers on the oak table, chairs round it, lavender and herbs in the raised beds and the log stack at the corner. The silver larch walls and the two dark slate roofs, meeting in their valley, read against the sky; dry stone walls, sheep and the old tree in silhouette. — 04 · The yard at blue hour in high summer

The yard on a clear January morning after snow, from the south-west, with low sun, a pale blue sky, a large bare tree behind, and snowy fields and limestone edges beyond. Snow lies evenly on both steep roofs, the one roof window shows on the main wing's slope just west of the valley, and a curl of smoke rises from the black flue. The ground floor windows and the glazed back door glow warm. In the yard, a snow-capped table and bench between two raised beds of frosted lavender, and a slatted log store at the west gable. Sheep at a hay feeder in the field to the right, and a snow-capped dry stone wall in the foreground. Off brief: a bench in place of the chairs. — 05 · The yard on a clear January morning after snow

The east side on a late October afternoon, with low golden sun, mist lying in the valley, bracken turned rust brown on the hills and a tree turning gold. On the left the long east wall of the south wing, plain larch under its slate roof; on the right the main wing's east gable with the landing window high up and the corridor window below, and the other roof rising behind. A dry stone wall in the foreground with a timber stile, and an overhanging branch at the left. Off brief: the prompt asks for a stone step stile with no wooden bench; the render gives a timber stile with a bench. — 06 · The east side on a late October afternoon

The north side on a clear autumn night with a crescent moon, from the gravel track by the open field gate and dry stone wall. A single warm light under the slim black canopy lights the oak front door and a pot of rosemary beside it, and the landing window high in the east gable glows. The rest of the larch wall is dark, the slate roof and its flue faintly lit, with sheep and dark trees in the field behind. — 07 · The north side on a clear autumn night with a crescent moon

The kitchen, living and dining room in late afternoon autumn sun, from the kitchen end. Pale timber joists of the floor above left exposed across the ceiling. White flat-fronted kitchen units with an oak worktop and a white ceramic sink under a window, open shelves of plates and jars, plants. A small black wood stove on a slate hearth with a log basket, a worn leather armchair and a linen sofa. A farmhouse table with mismatched chairs by the glazed door, open onto the yard and fields. Lime-washed off-white walls and wide oiled pine boards. — 08 · The kitchen

The entrance hall in morning light, from just inside the front door. A straight, narrow stair rises away from the camera, painted white with oiled pine treads and plain square balusters. To the right, coats and a hat on pegs, a fern in a pot and a bench with wellies and walking boots beneath it on a sisal mat, under a small window. To the left, through a wide opening, the kitchen and living room with the wood stove. Pine floorboards, off-white walls and pale joists overhead. — 09 · The entrance hall in morning light

A bedroom in the roof in early morning sun, from the doorway. The ceiling slopes down steeply on both sides to low knee walls, with a flat band at the top, all lined in white tongue-and-groove boards. In the gable wall ahead, a plain window in an anthracite frame looks out over misty fields and gritstone edges. A black iron bed with white linen and a grey checked blanket, a wooden chair as a bedside table, a sheepskin and a woven rug on the pine floor, a basket, and low built-in cupboard doors along the knee walls. — 10 · A bedroom in the roof in early morning sun

The bathroom in the roof on a soft grey morning, from the doorway. The ceiling is open to the roof, in white tongue-and-groove boards, with a crease where two slopes meet. A plain white bath runs along the right-hand wall under a roof window set high in the slope with a deep white reveal, showing grey sky and green hills. White square tiles to half height and a trailing plant on the bath. On the left, a birch plywood vanity with a white basin, a round timber mirror, a black wall light and a wooden towel ladder with linen towels, over a grey painted floor and a cotton mat. — 11 · The bathroom in the roof on a soft grey morning

12 · The site early in the build

The shell going up on a bright late-spring day, from the yard side to the south-west. The ground floor walls of both wings stand in timber stud frame sheathed in pale OSB, with window and door openings cut but empty, on a deck over small concrete pads. The upper floor deck is down, and pairs of new timber rafters on both wings rise to one ridge height and meet in a valley. Tube scaffolding with timber boards and a ladder runs round at deck level. Pallets of slates, rolls of breather membrane, a stack of battens and two loads under green tarpaulins wait on the grass, with flags laid where the yard will be, and dry stone walls, a big tree and limestone edges beyond. Off brief: there are no knee walls, so the rafters sit straight on the upper deck, and the second wing's gable sits almost flush with the main wing instead of 3.6 m in front of it. — 13 · The shell going up on a bright late-spring day

Near the end of the shell stage on a warm summer afternoon, from the yard side to the south-west. Scaffolding with timber boards wraps the house at the low eaves. The main wing's slope facing the yard is finished in dark slates, with the roof window in it near the valley; the second wing's slope is still on battens over grey breather membrane, with bundles of slates on the scaffold. The windows and the glazed back door are in, in anthracite frames. The main wing is boarded in fresh honey-coloured larch, and the second wing is still in membrane and battens. A stack of larch boards under a green tarpaulin, a pallet of sandstone flags on the bare yard, and a mitre saw on trestles by a ladder, with a big tree, dry stone walls and limestone edges behind. — 14 · Near the end of the shell stage on a warm summer afternoon

Ground floor plan, north up, fitted out in phase 2 as a complete one-bedroom home. Wing 1, 9.0 × 5.4 m, along the north; wing 2, 5.4 × 3.6 m, beyond it to the south at the east end. The front door in the north wall near the east end opens into the hall, 7.6 m², with the stair rising east along the spine. The kitchen, living and dining room, 29.2 m², fills the west of wing 1, with windows to the north, west and south onto the yard. East of it, a utility and boot room, 5.8 m², and a corridor with an east window, leading to a lobby, the shower room, 4.3 m², and bedroom 1, 13.0 m², in wing 2, with windows west onto the yard and south. The yard is in the south-west corner of the L. — 15 · Ground floor plan

Plan of the floor in the roof, north up, finished in phase 3, with dashed lines marking 1.5 m headroom. Bedroom 2, 21.1 m², fills the west of wing 1 with a window in the west gable. East of it, a low eaves store along the north wall, a corridor from the head of the stair west to bedroom 2, the stairwell, the bathroom, 5.8 m², with its roof window marked in its north-west corner, where the main wing's slope runs over it just west of the valley, and the landing with a window in the east wall. Bedroom 3, 15.8 m², fills wing 2 with a window in the south gable. — 16 · Plan of the floor in the roof

Section through the main wing, north to south. Concrete pads in the ground, the ground floor deck on them, the kitchen and living room with a 2.4 m ceiling, bedroom 2 in the roof above with 1.0 m knee walls and a dashed line at 1.5 m headroom, and a small loft under the 45° roof. The ridge is at 6.8 m and the wing 5.4 m wide, with the north on the left and the yard to the south on the right. — 17 · Section through the main wing

The model

drag to turn it · built from the drawings

Screenshot of this idea's 3D model from the yard, to the south-west, in flat colours on a pale green ground. The L of two grey 45° roofs meeting in a valley, with the roof window high on the main wing's slope just west of the valley and the flue on the north slope behind. Beige larch walls with blue windows and the glazed back door, the flagged yard with its table and raised beds in the corner of the L, the log stack at the west gable, and dry stone walls, the track and trees beyond.

the model loads as you reach it

The building it

5 · each has a page of its own

The cost

1 · each has a page of its own

The floors

3 · each has a page of its own

The render kit

14 · each has a page of its own

The rooms

4 · each has a page of its own

The log

3 updates

8 Nov 2026

Five new renders: the two missing build stages, rafters up and roofing and boarding, and second takes of the aerial, the snow and the bathroom. The aerial and the snow now keep the roof window, and the bathroom is shown open to the roof with the bath under the window. The first takes stay on their render-kit pages.

8 Nov 2026

The roof window moves into the bathroom's north-west corner, the one place both over the bath and on the main slope the renders show, and the bathroom opens up to the roof so the window lights it. The roof plan is redrawn with it, and with a corridor to bedroom 2, which the concept book's plan had no way into. On the ground floor, bedroom 1 and the shower room are reached through the kitchen and the utility. The model's screenshots in the render kit are retaken from this model, and prompt 11 is rewritten for the bathroom as it is now.

8 Nov 2026

Concept rev B: the concept book, with twelve renders, the two plans and the section, the 3D model and a render kit of fourteen prompts. Two of the build-stage views, rafters up and roofing and boarding, are not rendered yet.