In Cumbria’s Eden Valley, Helen and Phil took a disused sandstone quarry and did something you don’t often see in self build. They put the house into the ground instead of on top of it. The result is an earth sheltered eco home designed to vanish into the landscape, with the ground itself acting as part of the thermal strategy. The plot was cheap in today’s money, but the build was anything but. This place had to be built like a concrete basement, waterproofed like a swimming pool, then buried under tonnes of earth. And all the way through there was one fear that kept coming back. Would it be too dark to live in? By the end, the design intent holds up. Sunpipes and borrowed light do more work than you expect, and the finished house feels dry, warm, and calm, not gloomy. It’s a proper long game project, high embodied carbon up front, paid back over time, and proof that “eco” is as much about committing to the performance as it is about the idea.