'We were smitten STRAIGHT AWAY'

Renovating a Grade II-listed cottage took time, effort and hasn’t been without its problems, but for Amanda and her family all the hard work has paid off

- VIVIENNE AYERS, LISA FAZZANI

From the moment we stepped inside we knew we had to have this house,’ says Amanda. ‘We fell in love with its character, history and charm. I first spotted the cottage for sale online, in 2015.

‘It had been on the market for a while, and we booked a viewing, even though our own house wasn’t up for sale yet. It was the only house we’ve ever walked into and been sold on straight away. The cottage is a landmark in the village and is said to be the oldest one here – it was owned by a couple in their 90s who had lived in it for thirty years.

We knew we really wanted it, even though there was lots to do to it, so we put our house on the market as soon as we could and, fortunately, sold it fairly quickly. We then had a specialist survey done on the cottage that ran to 57 pages, but it didn’t put us off and we went ahead with the purchase. We love renovating – it’s a hobby for us – we’ve done up five properties and all our previous houses were old.

In a former life