“YOU won’t find a house like this anywhere, we don’t think a lot of it has ever been done before.”
Widnes Vikings owner and Stobart chief Steve O’Connor was describing the concept behind his new home.
“It’s effectively four houses – the house we live in, the bedrooms, the garage and the underneath with the apartment,” he said.
The building is an imaginative blend of old and new.
“It’s a mixture of 16th and 17th century techniques and modern technology and sophistication,” said Steve.
The futuristic property is focused on saving energy.
“It’s all about low energy usage, not where the energy comes from but how economically you use it,” said Steve, highlighting the home’s natural air conditioning system through an elaborate central chimney, innovative use of irrigation and its own well.
Keyless doors throughout the building, an internal communication system, iPod docks in every room and a surround system with speakers buried into the walls are reminiscent of a secret bunker in a James Bond film.
The home also features its own indoor sports room, a nightclub-style bar and 11 bathrooms.
“As you walk around the house you are taken from small spaces to big spaces, dark spaces to light spaces and quiet places to loud places,” added Steve, describing the house as having a cathedral-like quality.
Despite the fact that half of the house is underground – strict restrictions stated any new building could only be as big as Hill Cottage, which used to stand on the site – a clever system of roof lights fills subterranean sections with natural light.
“You never feel disconnected or that there’s no natural light,” Steve added.
“You don’t feel as though you are in a cave.”
Steve has been living at the Hill Road North house for about 10 weeks with his wife Clare, 36, and son Stevie, five, after moving from Frodsham.
“The family really like it and we’ve had quite a few late cricket matches on the lawn,” he added.
“We’ve not had any parties yet but we’ve got some planned.
“It’s taken an awful lot of time and energy. You fall out of love with it at times but it feels worth it at the end.
“It’s everything we wanted it to be and more.”
Although the brief was to create a future-proof building pushing the boundaries of design, the house is still a home with dozens of family pictures, a Scalextric track set for Stevie and clocks on the wall showing the time in Los Angeles, New York, Sydney... and Accrington, where Clare was born.
Steve’s array of expensive cars and bikes are kept in a ground-level garage and each vehicle has a specific door which seamlessy opens with the main gate.
The house – called Steppingstone – is also being nominated for several international architecture awards and has interested designers creating homes for England and Chelsea star Frank Lampard and Manchester United’s Gary Neville.
“My daughter Sarah originally suggested the name Steppingstone,” said Steve.
“While we were on holiday in New York in February, I went to have a look around New Jersey, where Bruce Springsteen is from, because I’ve followed his music for 30 years.
“I found a bit of trivia – Bruce has a Dutch Irish ancestry and his name means Steppingstone in old Dutch. I thought that must be fate so we called it Steppingstone.”
