Build Diary – Miriam and Marcus

While Miriam and Marcus built the stunning Tegel House (see our full video tour HERE), they had to deal with logistical problems caused by Covid, including not being able to enter Indonesia. Although their build ran longer than expected, the results made it worth it!

Where are you from and when did you first visit Bali?

I’m Miriam and my husband is Marcus. We are from Sweden. The first time I was in Bali was probably 15 years ago. Marcus was there in 1995 and fell in love with the island.  Since than we have been there almost once a year.

What do you love about living in Bali?

What we love with Bali is the surf, yoga ,food, kind people,  nice craftsmanship and it feels like it is the island with possibilities.

Why did you decide to build in a home in Bali?

The decision to build in Bali was a dream my husband has had for a couple of years. We wanted to have the opportunity to stay in Bali during the Swedish winter.

How did you find the land?

My husband was in Bali probably 5-8 times over a period of 6 month to see different pieces of land.

Can you describe your Bali villa?

Tegel House has 3 bedrooms on the second floor and the first floor is a open living room/kitchen. There is an outside pool.

Did you hire a designer? How did you find your builder and architect? 

We have an architect from New Zealand, (the neighbours had used him and we really liked their house). We have a local architect, Sekar, who also is the project manager on site. We are using local builders.

We wanted to work with the best people with good knowledge and a great reputation.  Chelsey at Somewhere Concepts did the interior design, Anton at Bali landscape did the garden and Rara at Nimmersat was in charge for the lighting.

How did you choose your local architect and builder?

Actually, my husband was driving around in Canggu and passed by Sekar’s office. He liked the exteriors and interiors and went in.

I know that you were both in Sweden during a lot of the build. How often did you contact your build team?

We had almost daily contact with the builders. They sent pictures and films regularly.

When did you start building and how long did it take?

We started to build in February 2021 and it was supposed to be ready in March-April 2022. In the end, it took about 2 years.

Unfortunately,  because of Covid we weren’t in Bali for almost 1-2 years.  But as we are lucky to work with such professional people,  we had regular meetings and discussions through zoom.

In what ways did the pandemic affect your Bali build? 

We had of course the lock downs and many of the workers moved back to their home villages.  Maybe that wasn’t the biggest problem. The biggest issue became the lack of supply that made the work site not able to go on 100% capacity, and the increasing costs of gods.

What were your emotions during the build?

Since we had a great team with a fantastic builder (Kadek) and project manager (Sekar) and coordinator (Putu) it was mostly enjoyable, but sometimes confusing due to the distance!

How do you feel now that it is complete and your Bali home is ready?

Amazing, I have a smile on my face every time i think of the house

Did you make any changes to the design during the build?

In every project I presume there will be some obstacles that you don’t imagine in before hand, one of those things were we had to make a more solid foundation that resulted in a basement.

Did you stay on budget?

We really didn’t have a budget Since we more or less gave the creative team the freedom to do what they seemed fit, and with the increasing costs related to Covid, we could say we didn’t have a budget. But it really turned out great in the end.

What are your favourite features in your Bali villa? 

The combination of textures, colors and lightning creates a warm atmosphere.

What advice would you give someone who want to build a villa in Bali?

Do it! It’s, fun, furious and fantastic but consider buying everything from Asia since items imported from Europe are 2-5 times the price, due to the heavy taxes on imported goods.

Do you plan to do a future project in Bali?

You should never say never!

Take a video tour of Tegel House HERE

Follow Tegel House on IG HERE

Words and Photos by Bali Interiors