THIS one-off family house has been honoured in the Sunday Times British Homes Awards for 2015.

The self-build property known as Sandpath is in the Green Belt in Beckley near Oxford.

It was dubbed by judges “as good as it gets for a timber and glass box on a budget”.

Designed by Adrian James Architects the four-bedroom home, completed in 2014, was voted the best in the “one-off house or extension: up to 2,500 sq ft” category.

Mr James said: “It’s very nice to win this award.

“The team had to work in tough parameters because there were quite strong restrictions on height and size because it is in the Green Belt.

“From this we designed a very pure cube.

“There was a requirement for simplicity and I think that’s why people like it.”

With less than £1,500 per sq ft to spend, owners Simon Tiensa and Louisa Cohn – who managed the project themselves – opted for a no-frills cube constructed with prefab timber panels.

The couple live there with their three-year-old son Myles.

Ms Cohn, who used to live in Marston, added: “It was a bit of a shock to us that it had won an award but it was great news. It’s a lovely home and it’s quite a sustainable house. Beckley is a brilliant area to live. It’s a home we built to live in and somewhere we are going to stay.”

Features of the design include a cantilevered front so the house hangs out over a wall, and a huge opening onto the garden.

Mr James said: “Because there were constraints on how high we could build the house, it meant we had to keep it relatively simple.

“But it does have a bit of drama to it. It looks like it’s leaning over the edge and I think that’s another thing the judges like.”