Wednesday, 22 January 2014

Cambridgeshire renovation project

Going a little off-topic today to share with you the project story of Wreck readers Sarah and Jonathan.
They bought the cottages in Haddenham, above, that I featured last March. In my original post I wrote that there was lot of work to be done to turn the three cottages into one home but it "could be a great project in a very pretty area of Cambridgeshire". This was part of the challenge:


Anyhow, about a week ago I got this lovely email from Sarah:
I thought that you may be interested to know that we bought 28 Church Lane, Haddenham, after seeing the property on your blog. We were looking for a renovation project to get us out of London and into country life and frequently read your blog. When we saw it, we wanted it.
We got held up in probate for the entire of that glorious summer (the owner sadly passed away in the middle of the buying process) but finally owned it in August and work started in mid September.
We are now mid-renovation and are turning the three cottages into two 3 bed houses. We took down the old lean-tos on the back as they were totally ruined. Upstairs we found papers from 1942 on the floor and think that we were the first people up there in decades. There was also a large cellar that no one knew about. And a structural chair holding up most of the outbuildings.
I could talk about the project for hours but I am a house bore these days. Mainly I wanted to let you know that it was your website that linked us to this wonderful house.
They hope to be watertight by early Feb and to finish the first house in April. In the meantime, here are a few photos from their build in progress:

The floor needed to be lowered!


PS: Want to know what else is worth a look in the same area? This four-bed detached is in Manea, around six miles from Haddenham:

It has a river to the front, a third of an acre of garden at the back, outbuildings and needs a full refurb (I'd ask about flooding). It's on the market at £180k through Maxey Grounds. Details and more pix here.