Learning Curve

Katy and David Green took a hands-on approach to make this neglected schoolhouse feel like home.

- Katie Treggiden

Curiosity led Katy Green and her husband David to go along to the auction of this old schoolhouse. ‘David was wearing a bobble hat so every time he nodded to bid the bobble would bob up and down,’ says Katy. ‘Finally the man said, “Sold for £150,000 to the man in the bobble hat!”’ An immediate deposit was required, and a few frantic calls to the bank secured a loan – and the house.

But what they bought was a far cry from either the original school or the home they now live in. Outside, there were three prefabricated huts spanning 30 metres, plus a huge car park. Inside, the space had been carved up with stud walls and false ceilings, hiding the original architecture. Despite all of that, Katy immediately saw its potential. ‘It had an institutional feel, which I actually really liked,’ she says. ‘And I liked the weird scale, too – from the front it’s this cute little house, but once you get inside, its full size comes as quite a surprise.’ Although they managed to secure planning permission, because it was a ‘change of use’ they couldn’t get building regulations sign-off– or a mortgage – until the end of the project. Luckily, a bridging loan from their family saved the day.