By Harriet Johnston For Mailonline

Published: 11:30 EDT, 4 May 2022 | Updated: 11:30 EDT, 4 May 2022

A couple who dreamed of building a Wild West American ranch-style barn in a gritty part of Glasgow for £170,000 revealed they lost all their possessions when their temporary caravan home was burned to the ground by a gang on Grand Designs: The Streets.

Ben and Joanna, from Glasgow, appear on the Channel 4 series tonight after taking part in Scotland's first urban self build scheme, which was launched by Glasgow City Council. 

Having paid £50,000 for the plot of land, the couple, who worked as a carpenter and an animator, said they were determined to build their dream barn home with a tight budget and moved onto the site in a wooden caravan to further save on costs.

However after spending the night away from the project, they were devastated when they received a phone call that a gang of local vandals had set fire to their temporary home, which was completely destroyed - along with all their worldly possessions.

Ben and Joanna admitted they no longer felt safe in the area, saying: 'Right now our home is the only one, so it feels isolated but when everyone else starts building, it will feel like a community. When we're all in, I think it will be an amazing place to live. But this place at the beginning is quite scary.'

Ben and Joanna, from Glasgow, appear on the Channel 4 series Grand Designs: The Streets tonight after taking part in Scotland's first urban self build scheme, which was launched by Glasgow City Council (pictured with Kevin McCloud) 

Having paid £50,000 for the plot of land, the couple, who worked as a carpenter and an animator, said they were determined to build their dream barn home with a tight budget

At the start of the programme, Joanna and Ben explained they wanted their home to be rustic, with a barn-like feel, with the carpenter constructing the timber frame for the property (pictured) 

At the start of the programme, Joanna and Ben explained they wanted their home to be rustic, with a barn-like feel, with Joanna explaining: 'We both love being outside, camping and being away from the city.'

Ben said: 'It's just rural, honesty thing. Being outdoors by a fire and having a guitar, and not being terribly proficient but having the desire.

They planned to build their American home on the ranch in Glasgow on a strip of land below a canal just two miles from the city centre.

Six plots had been sold to budding self builders by the council for under £50,000 each. 

However after spending the night away from the project, they were devastated when they received a phone call that a gang of local vandals had set fire to their temporary home, which was completely destroyed - along with all their worldly possessions (pictured, their caravan before the fire) 

The couple paid £50,000 for the plot of land in Glasgow's city centre, which they hoped to transform into their dream home (pictured, before) 

Joanna said: 'We're building a ranch, I've always called it a ranch. It's got the cowboy stoop. Anytime we watch a Western, they have that porch. Little House on the Prairie - that's it.'

The British self build resolution might have started at Gravenhill in Oxfordshire, but it has since spread across the country.

Now Glasgow City Council have launched Scotland's first urban self build scheme as part of its People Make Glasgow Home housing scheme.

Six plots had been sold to budding self builders by the council for under £50,000 each. 

The council provided serviced plots, a design code and a 'plot passport' for the self builders - meaning they could dodge the traditional formal planning process.   

Speaking to Glasgow Times, Angela Doran, the self-build co-ordinator, said: 'Self-building has the benefit of creating really close-knit communities where people are really involved in their community and invested in it.

'This site in Maryhill has been lying derelict for many years and it's used as a drinking den at night for teenagers.

'The self-build homes will transform it into an attractive and thriving community, which will have benefits for the whole area.

'Self-builders also tend to stay in the area for longer as they are more invested in their homes. ' 

Ben added: 'That's a weird design reference but yeah. I guess ranch style has come about as an idea. It's a house that is built to throw us out into the wild a bit to encourage us to live the life we want to live, which is much more outdoors.

'I'm going to do pretty much all of it myself, I've simplified it, taken things out and added things because I can see how to achieve it.'

Joanna said: 'He can make anything so anything - room size, any detail - Ben can change it.'

Ben said the budget was 'very tight', with Joanna saying it was 'as much as they could borrow', saying: 'Based on our incomes, they loaned us £170,000. 

'There's no extra money but there is a lot of information online, and he is free as well.'

Ben laughed, saying: 'Limitations cause creativity.' 

Joanna and Ben's home was the first to go up in the street. At it's heart, it was a traditional heavy timber frame house, jointed by hand out of Douglas fir. Then, it would be wrapped in modern insulation on the outside.

At one end, they couple planned for there to be an open plan kithen and living area, and behind that, the bathroom. 

The main living area would be double heighted and lit by a wall of glass which faced south and overlooked the garden.

Halfway down the barn was a staircase, which lead up to a snug, a bathroom and a first floor bedroom.

Meanwhile along the entire length of the building would be a stoop for the couple to enjoy the outdoors - come rain or shine.

In November 2019, the couple began their work on the house, digging out the foundations for their project.

To be closer to site, they moved out of their flat and into a caravan on the plot, which they made their new home. £30,000 of their tight budget had to go on pouring the concrete foundations. 

 Meanwhile they got to work jointing their timbre frame in their all weather workshop - a wedding marquee. 

Their building was in a remarkable location but for all its charm, the historic site was situated in one of the toughest areas of Glasgow, Maryhill. Away from the site one day, they get some really bad news.

Joanna explained: 'I had a phone call and they said, 'Your caravan is not here.' It was just singed down to the ground. 

'It had all our stuff in it. We had a massive roll top bath in there, rug skins, it was so nice. It was just a big black rectangle [on the ground] Somebody vandalised it.'

Ben added: 'They'd slashed the sides of the workshop as well, and there were smashed bottles as well. It was exhausting - relentless for some time.'

Meanwhile they built an incredible double height, open plan kitchen and living area with a huge south-facing window to flood the space with light 

Every detail of the home from the couple was carefully planned for, as Ben and Joanna desperately tried to stick to their £170,000 budget (pictured, the bathroom) 

Meanwhile the Glaswegian  couple constructed their kitchen by hand, as well as making the plaster for their walls themselves (pictured)  

But with every penny the couple had invested in the project, they had to continue the build. 

Moving back to their flat, the couple pressed on on site, with Ben shaping the frame completely by hand, helped only by his friend. 

Meanwhile Joanna was project managing, keeping a close eye on their tight budget.

Ben said: 'It's not easy for sure. Everything is big and heavy and there is just two of us walking around with a wee rusty timbre trolley.'

During the build, Joanna and Ben were determined to do as much as they could themselves and focused on small details like decorations to make the barn feel homely (left and right) 

Meanwhile Joanna said Ben could 'hardly walk' when he got home from the site, with Ben confessing he had developed tendonitis in his foot.

They were pushing themselves to the limits of what they could do - but by June 2020, progress was being made and the timber frame was slotted into place. 

They said they were 'slugging it out' to try to make sure they 'had enough cash to keep going.'

They dispensed of some things which other self builders might see essential - like scaffolding. Instead, builders climbed on top and tied themselves to the building with rope. The couple said they were saving themselves £20,000. 

But Ben confessed: 'I'll be very happy to see the end of climbing up there on ladders.'

Meanwhile the house was starting to draw the attention of neighbours, with locals praising the couple for building their home in a 'natural way.'

But the couple said they were growing more anxious about their home as it was built, with Joanna saying: 'With no movement on site, we are a little bit anxious because of security.'

''Obviously we'll be in the house working on it, but once we're in and if we're ever out for the night - or if we want to go away...it's just a lone house in the middle of the city and it's a bit scary.'

Grand Designs: The Streets airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 4

At the end of their barn was a huge wall of glass, allowing light to flood into the space - creating a stunning modern barn for the couple (pictured, the programme's presenters Natasha Huq and Kevin McCloud) 

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