COMFORT & JOY

Susie and Phillipa McGinley-Collins renovated and extended a neglected Victorian cottage that’s now so inviting it’s the place to be during the festive season

- NAOMI JONES

Downsizing to a damp, mouldy and cramped cottage with ‘vintage’ plumbing and electrics and no mains gas may not sound that appealing to most of us, but for Susie and Phillipa McGinley-Collins it was an opportunity not to be missed. ‘We had always loved the location of this house,’ says Susie, ‘so in 2016, when the chance came to buy the property and breathe life into this neglected old building, we couldn’t pass it up, even though we knew it was going to be incredibly challenging.’

Indeed, this project was not one for the faint-hearted. ‘The house had been occupied by the same family for the previous 50 years and probably untouched for 30 of those,’ explains Phillipa. ‘Lino, tiles and carpets had been fitted one on top of another. Every room had polystyrene tiles on the ceilings and layer upon layer of wall coverings.’