Dennis Marinakis & Dimitri Kontozisis - basement home in central London
Dennis Marinakis and Dimitri Kontozisis looking for a plot under £150,000 in central London for many months. When they spotted one on BuildStore's PlotSearch website in Grove Hill Road, Denmark Hill, £125,000, they thought it was a mistake. The site came with planning permission to build a large 2-bed, 2-bath detached eco-home bungalow with a grass roof and secluded back garden. At the time, the couple were living in a tiny garden flat, and had no clue where Denmark Hill was. As they drove up Camberwell Grove with its elegant million pound Georgian terraces and turned into Grove Hill Road their excitement grew. Dennis said: "We looked at each other and made the decision to buy on the spot. We didn't even have financing in place - just a £10,000 deposit!"
They soon realised the area was a secret gem. Lordship Lane with its quirky boutiques, organic butcher, specialist fishmongers, cheese shops, coffee bars, farmer's market & restaurants ticked all the boxes. The streets were leafy and the Dulwich picture gallery and adjacent parks were nearby. Trains into London Bridge or Victoria Station were only 12-15 minutes from East Dulwich or Denmark Hill station, less than a five minute walk. Perfect plot, perfect location.
Dennis continues: "We scraped together another 75,000. The rest we borrowed, through BuildStore's Accelerator self build mortgage scheme, with Birmingham Midshires. I had a restaurant job, which was perfect for self building. It allowed me to spend my days on site: supervising, ordering, mucking in as needed, and then head off to my "real" job at 4:30 pm in the evening. It helped that Dimitri's dad was a builder in Greece, so the idea of building his own home wasn't daunting to him. I grew up in Canada where my mom was a property developer and self build is more common, so I wasn't put off either."
The estate agency had marketed the plot as a "basement home" because the planners would not allow the roof height to exceed the existing garden walls and there were no windows on most of the exterior walls. They were essentially building a "Hobbit House", burrowed into the ground in what used to be a large rear garden. This meant digging down and removing 180 skips worth of soil, followed by underpinning the existing walls and building a complicated foundation including piling and a specialist sub layer of collapsible cardboard to create a void under the slab to handle movement in the soil. A specialist waterproof membrane and wall drain prevents damp and moisture from entering the house. To overcome the basement feeling, Dennis incorporated as many roof lights as possible to let in light, dug down deep to gain a ceiling height of 2.5 metres and extending to 3.5 metres in the light wells created by the roof lights. Floor-to ceiling folding sliding doors off the lounge and master bedroom were another element used to gain light. The rooflights open for ventilation with automatic rain sensors to prevent water ingress during bad weather.
Because they are below existing drainage levels, a specialist pumping system removes waste water with a battery back up to handle power cuts. They were sceptical about a sedum grass roof at first, but have grown to love it. Not only does it create a pleasing natural look for their neighbours, but it insulates heat and acts as natural soundproofing, as well as being home to many varieties of butterflies, insects and the occasional fox!
Other features include underfloor heating, solid bleached oak floors, an ensuite wet room with rainforest shower, a modern fireplace and open plan kitchen, and even a tiled aviary lightwell for their macaw! Built-in ceiling zoned speakers stream music from the internet using the Sonos System and library of more than 8 million tracks and radio stations from around the world, all controlled from their i-phones. Outside , they used Garapa Brazilian hardwood decking and sunk a six-seat Calspa jacuzzi into the deck off the barbecue. For privacy, they planted a fast growing bamboo hedge of nearly 4 metres.
