The area of California in East Ipswich is predominantly made up of two storey semi detached or terraced properties that were largely built by their owner occupiers in the mid to late C19th. This early form of self building was made possible by Ipswich & Suffolk Freehold Land Society in their development of the Rosehill Estate. The FLS gained ownership of larger areas of land and divided it up to form street patterns, and sold the freeholds of small plots for reasonable costs to its members so as to enable 'ordinary people' to become freeholders for the first time.

In recent years a small building plot was created by the severance of land from the rear gardens of two semi detached homes within the Rosehill Estate area. This plot offered a unique opportunity for our client - who is not a home owner - to build a sustainable, affordable, small scale home and work space for himself, in the spirit of the FLS.