"John Borman" wrote
| However after doing our first house as a self build there were a number of
| things we missed and would have liked. We want this one to be perfect not
| just for us but for families down the line. So what I was looking for was
| things that people on here would really like to have see in their house.

1. Fire sprinkler system. Especially in a barn conversion which the planners
usually prefer to be substantially open plan, sprinklers may get you
significant exemptions from more cumbersome fire prevention/containment
requirements.

2. All plumbing must be silent. That is, ALL plumbing MUST be SILENT.

3. Soundproofing between rooms. German regs have the same soundproofing
between rooms that we have between flats in a building.

4. Master bedroom with en-suite bathroom, separate WC, and dressing room /
walk-in wardrobe. Guest bedroom with en-suite. Upstairs laundry room
(bedrooms are where the dirty clothes are removed, and where the clean
clothes are stored, so why cart everything down to a food preparation area?
Inconvenient and unhygienic.) or a dunbwaiter/service lift from the dressing
room down to the utility room.

5. Provision for older or disabled people. Have a room on the ground floor
that can be used as a bedroom / granny suite, and a cloakroom that can
convert into an accessible shower room.

6. Provision for working from home. Preferably with its own external access
as well as internal communication. (May be combined with 5.)

7. Ramped drive-in doors to the main living area. Especially for a barn
conversion with high ceilings, the ability to wheel in a towable
cherry-picker platform will ease construction and future maintenance.

8. Cellar.

9. Clock tower on the stable block. Ramparts for a bagpiper. Gatling gun to
deter trespassers.

Owain