Describing themselves as ‘serial self-builders’, Ann and Wyndham had a strong vision of what their dream home should be. Starting with a plot of land on Wales' stunning west coast they imagined a modern home filled with light and then spent a year and a half making that dream come true.

They wanted a warm, comfortable and spacious open-plan property with stylish hard flooring throughout, and large glazed areas to make the most of spectacular views of Carmarthen Bay.

When Ann and Wyndham found their perfect plot near Tenby, Wales, they set about designing their dream home, which would later be called Shearwaters. There are 15 rooms in all, including four bedrooms (2 with en-suite), three additional bathrooms, a large open-plan kitchen-lounge-diner, separate utility room, hall and landing.

Having been heavily involved in – and impressed by – the design of their daughter’s self-build property in North Lincolnshire, they decided to use this as a template for their own build, which cost around £1 million to complete.

The house has a steel frame construction with cedar cladding on upper floors, a featured slate wall and a zinc-clad roof. In the living area, the floor-to-ceiling windows open out onto the rear garden and incredible sea views,

The interior architecture reflects their love of modern design, with simple skylights adding elegant angles and flooding the stairwell with light.

A stunning, open-plan, contemporary home, the property couldn’t be more different to the Georgian-style house in which they previously lived, which Wyndham describes as having “lots of windows and lots of radiators – very restricted on space”.

By contrast, Shearwaters is spacious yet cosy, with ceramic and wooden floors warmed by efficient underfloor heating from the specialist company Nu Heat. Wyndham explains: “We love that we can individually control the temperature of each room, and can set the heating according to how we use the space. We can increase the temperature of guest rooms when we have visitors, and just keep them ticking over the rest of the time."

With 15 rooms in total, the house has a generous amount of space - around 330 square metres in all. The modern, monochrome kitchen is minimalist, clutter-free and calm - adding to the zen-like feel throughout the property.

The rear wall of black units has fitted appliances at an easy-to-access height, and plenty of storage in bespoke cabinetry in black and white.

Integral to the design of the house is this slate wall running throughout and around the ground floor.

The slate continues from the internal walls out on to the exterior of the house, connecting internal and external spaces.

Upstairs, the views of the bay are even more spectacular and so there are windows in every possible location.

In each room, the neutral whitewashed walls allow the coastal light to play out as the sun moves across the sky. The simple form of the triangular roof is repeated in the shaped glazing, too.

Pendant lights hang above the bed in the calm and peaceful bedroom. Wooden flooring throughout is matched with internal doors, furniture and a bespoke headboard with built-in storage shelf. 

The house also includes plenty of outdoor space including a large garage, front and rear gardens.

Feeling inspired? Talk to Nu-Heat Underfloor Heating & Renewables about this project on stand E147 at The National Homebuilding & Renovating Show (22-25 March, NEC, Birmingham), where you can also discover lots of ideas and advice on self-building.