Steve and Charlotte Sullivan loved building this four bedroom home in Baildon so much that they want to do it all over again, despite being married for only seven weeks.

“This is our first home. We were looking for a small terraced property but we found this plot of land and decided to go for it,” recalls Steve.

“We love our home and will be sad to leave, but we have been bitten by the ‘self build’ bug again and are moving on to another project.

“The land was originally part of a neighbour’s garden, and they had outline planning which meant that we had a blank canvas in terms of what we could design, although the size and shape of the land did dictate a certain layout.”

Coach Road itself has no particular ‘design’ theme as properties have been added to it since the first semi-detached houses were built there in the early 1900s.

“As long as our house didn’t stand out too much, we had free rein,” says Steve.

The couple knew they wanted a fairly traditional looking family home, with a contemporary interior and high quality building materials and internal fixtures.

“We loved the Yorkshire stone we built the house with, and so did our local planning officer who had to approve all materials before use,” says Steve.

“The planning process was fairly straight forward. It took around 12 weeks to get a permission from the local authority, who were really supportive of the design and overall construction.

“I looked after the main construction while Charlotte, who has a real eye for design, provided all the interior design flair.

“When we built it in 2006, the property market was at its peak. There was no way we could have afforded a house of this size for the money we spent buying the land and building it. We knew it was the best way to maximise our investment.”

All the fixtures and fittings were chosen by Steve and Charlotte, and they played a major role in the design of the property itself.

“We loved the process from start to finish. Although it was a lot of hard work, the end result was worth it. Not many people get to choose exactly how their first home will look, from fixtures and fittings to internal layout, so we knew how lucky we were,” says Steve.

“The build itself only took nine months. We started in April 2006 and moved in January 2007. Our builder was fantastic and took a real interest in the design of the house, helping form ideas and talking through problems. The process was frustrating at times but we kept telling ourselves that the end result would be fantastic.”

Because building a house can be such a lengthy process, or at least much longer than buying an existing home, the couple had time to think about and plan what they wanted with the interior – a fairly contemporary look, with an open plan kitchen diner for entertaining, but also to feel warm, cosy and homely.

“We think we’ve achieved what we wanted, and it’s been such a lovely home for us for the past four years.”

While the house is contemporary, it does have plenty of traditional charm. On the ground floor is a reception hall, cloak room, lounge and impressive dining kitchen with utility room, while upstairs there are four bedrooms – the master bedroom having an en-suite shower room – and a luxury family bathroom.

“We both love the kitchen diner and spend most of our time in there. However, in terms of design, Charlotte loves the main bathroom with the marble tiles and roll top bath – we wanted a ‘wow’ bathroom and got one.

“Our favourite thing in the house is the solid stone fireplace – an item that was considerably over budget, but we fell in love with the idea and had a local stonemason make it for us. The result is fantastic.”

The couple designed the garden the year after they moved in. Until then they lived on a plot of mud, but did not want to rush into creating a garden that was not up to scratch.

“We took time to come up with a design that would work well and look attractive. The back patio is enclosed and intimate – great for evenings with friends when you can open up the French doors from the kitchen diner.”

This property in Coach Road, Baildon, is on the market for £335,000 with William H Brown, Shipley, tel (01274) 531233, web www.sequencehome.co.uk