Completing on our dream home
By: Peter Garrett
Tags: Homedesign, DIY, Home Decor, House Restoration, Home Improvement

So, we’re starting a new story…

This is all about the misadventures, trials and tribulations of Cara and Pete… (Wonder Woman and I) as we take on our biggest project to date.

But why put pen to e-paper?

Well, it’s becoming more obvious to us that the longer we work on this project the less time we have to spend with our family and our friends. We want to ensure that for those who are dearest to us, who we no longer have as much time to see, it’s a little easier to understand why the project takes up so much time and why it’s important to us.

It’s also been clear to us, since we purchased our derelict cottage, that this is a much longer term project than the two we’ve worked on in the past. Writing down all the “micro-restorations” and “mini-renovations” as chapters to our lives, sounds like a great way to remember and record everything we (I mean Cara of course) have achieved.

And finally of course, there may be some pearls of wisdom, guidance, advice and humour that others may find in our journey that may help them through their own projects.

Our journey begins with Completion…

A day or two after completing our first bit of spam arrives

Yes, completion, not moving in, but completion. For many couples across the UK, your completion date is the move in date. But for us, our move in date was to follow much later. In late January 2019, after an incredibly challenging, stressful 2018 for my family, Cara and I completed the purchase of our “intended” dream home, a dream home which would hopefully bring some balance and zen back into our lives.

That may well have been the case if it wasn’t derelict and if it hadn’t been vacated for the last 5 years — Eeek!

Why this house? … Well it had it all!

Mice, Birds, Rats, Cold, Damp, Asbestos, No central heating, No Insulation, No working plumbing, Unsafe electrics, Overgrown exterior… Overgrown interior too! Damaged walls (exterior and interior), Unsafe stairs, Halloween decorations (seriously!), a questionable roof and so, much more…

But the one thing it had above all of that?

Potential.

We thought the house was white until it snowed!

Our beautiful home was loaded up with potential. Starting from the outside…

The setting: Nestled in the South Downs National Park and Queen Elizabeth Country Park gives it unique access to some of the most amazing countryside and wildlife the UK has to offer. It has been our privilege to take advantage of this fact as much as we can!

Garden: Although the previous owners were essentially the Country Park Wardens, with just over an acre of land, there is so much potential. Once vacated, the park left us with two large shed/store rooms, lots of left over and old wood (more on that later) and a store room on the side of the house (more on that below).

Loads of crap: You name it, we had it — steel troughs, broken trampolines, about fifty random 45’s (that’s a record for the kids) just haphazardly thrown about the place, more rubbish embedded in the land than you could count, a half destroyed potting shed, a broken greenhouse, a mechanic’s pit, a myriad of kids toys — balls, marbles etc…, “interesting” object d’art and the list goes on.

Within the walls, starting from the bottom…

A disgusting cellar: Perfect as a future laundry & utility, wine or gin cellar and heating plant room.

A side store room: With no internal connection to the house, this at first felt a little superfluous, but with a little imagination, this became my favourite room. Could it be an outdoor gym, could we knock a doorway through to make a large lounge or could it be an amazing kitchen?

Toilet and Bathroom: Back inside on the ground floor and much like the buildings of ole, and we had a separate toilet room with just enough room to sit on and close the door (not that we were ever going to touch that thing with our personal property) and a bathroom with, what was once, a white bath and sink.

“Hmmm… that wall between could definitely come down…”

Kitchen: With old oil boiler (not to ever be used again) a range of cupboards belonging to lots of tiny creatures and sink connected to the (just barely) clean water source.

Note: There is also a small loft space above the kitchen, toilet, bathroom and rear hallway.

2 reception rooms: We suspect that one may have been used for eating in previously, but that was simply not appropriate anymore. The other was likely to be a lounge and both benefitted from original chimneys with small log burners.

4 bedrooms: On the second and third floor (in the loft space) are four double sized rooms. Perfect for hosting and (ideally) two children in future (at the top, in the loft, as far away, where it’s quiet!).

“We’re definitely missing bathrooms in accessible places, but we’ll think of something.”

We knew we were taking on something massive, but we believe we have the resolve and the energy to tasteful, carefully and with love, restore this 1750’s cottage to it’s former glory.

In the next chapter… First steps.

Where the hell do we start?

Overgrown garden — just over an acre to play with

Lots of crap left behind for us to tidy

Halloween and Christmas decs still in the cellar from 5 years ago

Store room with exterior access only

A kitchen ready for dream meals to be made

One day, you two could be dining in such grandeur

Optional mould, not optional

A bedroom, believe it or not…