Natural Additions

After Guy Bowden retired, he and his wife, Sarah, began their search for a plot in the Monmouthshire countryside, on which they hoped to build a new oak-framed home. What they ended up buying was an old cottage severely lacking in wow factor. “We wanted a plot with a view — this has a limited view, isn’t a plot and came with five acres that we didn’t know what to do with!” begins Sarah. “The cottage was the second place we saw: it was small and very orange. The estate agent suggested