Two Yorkshire near-coast homes to renovate

I'm currently between homes. Or more accurately, we've just bought a temporary do-upper while we sell the house we've been rebuilding for the past six years and look for what, we hope, will be our final wreck.
As marvellous George likes to put it, our "forever" home.
Personally, I'm not a fan of the word 'forever' being put in front of anything. Particularly something so dependent on market vagaries and family stability as a property. But the idea of settling somewhere for longer than a decade definitely has appeal right now.
Anyway, back to why we're here.
I've been looking around North and East Yorkshire this week in terms of potential do-uppers and wanted to show you these two finds.
Starting with this handsome out-grown family home (top and below) in the Yorkshire village of Hunmanby, a couple of miles from Filey and the coast.
Grade II listed, detached, four bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs; three reception rooms and a chunky kitchen downstairs.

Lovely period details, an awful lot of de-cluttering to do and, underneath it all, remedial works that aren't really specified. My guess is there's been a disappointing damp survey.
I can tell you as a frequent cellar owner that there is never any point in trying to ignore that a cellar is damp - whatever you spend, water will out - we've just got bad at working with that reality.

But back to Prospect House.
It's a beautiful space, lovely big rooms, secluded (walled garden and parking area) and lots of potential for anyone looking to live close to the coast and in a position to bypass a mortgage.

On the market through DMA at £230k. Details and more pictures here and here.
My next choice is rather less pretty (depending on your perspective) but a fantastic opportunity for someone able to take on a bigger remodelling project.

Two semi-detached houses on the market together so potentially one three or four-bedroom detached home in a pretty bit of North Yorkshire close to the more popular (and pricier) Saltburn-by-the-Sea and Staithes.
The houses are on the edge of Skelton-in-Cleveland with lovely views over the village and surrounding landscape.

Each has two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, with kitchen and a couple of reception rooms downstairs.
No 9 East Parade seems to have had some work done already - the lounge and dining have been knocked through and opened up into the kitchen and the bathroom looks like it's been replastered.

The back of the properties is a bit of a boxy mess and personally I'd rebuild that - not least to make more of those views.

The garden needs rethinking too but is a decent size - and the drive and parking area to the side of No. 7 is a bonus.
On the market through the unfortunately-named Grimwood Estates at offers over £110k for the lot. Details and more pictures here and here.

Two cute Scottish holiday homes to renovate

Given that we're all back at school/work/university and bracing for a thoroughly bad-tempered autumn, I thought I'd show you two potential holiday homes (or holiday let) renovations to daydream over.
Starting with this very cute cottage a few hundred metres from the shores of  Loch Lomond.
Bridgend Cottage is just outside the entrance to Cashel Campsite, off the West Highland Way, so easy for guests to find.

The location is pretty - within the Trossachs National Park and handy for Ben Lomond, forest walks and plenty of tourism hotspots. But also private with a walled and hedged garden wrapped around the house.

Inside is more tired and dated than wrecked and there's plenty of scope to remodel and refit, or just repair and revamp.
Three bedrooms - albeit one bedroom and the bathroom are downstairs (which does also offer potential to create an accessible holiday home), plus lounge, kitchen, hall and various stores.

The kitchen is a weird shape and personally I'd be looking at opening up those rooms, but all reasonable sizes, while the oil central heating and double glazing makes this livable while you plan.
On the market through Bell Ingram at offers over £150k. Details and more pictures here and pdf here.
My next pick is even further North, at Waternish on Skye, but makes up for the added distance with the most stunning views.
And breathe...

A detached former croft house, three bedrooms - again one bedroom and the shower room are downstairs - and hall, lounge and kitchen. Plus water, drainage, electric storage heating and double glazing. Almost a carbon copy of Bridgend Cottage.

It's a lovely little cottage, and lots of potential. Not least to turn that upstairs boxroom into a bathroom.

Outside is around a third of an acre of (overgrown) croft land. But it's the views that really sell it. Shame the photography is a bit rubbish.

On the market through the Isle of Skye Estate Agency at offers over £125k. Details here.

A renovation story - or two

A little bit of a different post today - in part because several of you have asked for updates on some of the properties I've featured.
I'm going to start  with this one, because I had a lovely email from the couple who took on the gorgeous Mount Pleasant (above), in the Cotswold village of Painswick, after seeing it on 'Wreck' three years ago ("Many thanks for leading us to what has been a magical place to live", wrote Alice).
Here's my original post.
I wrote at the time about how this pretty two-bed cottage had bobbed in and out of estate agent's lists, despite its lovely location and views.
Alice and John-Paul who took Mount Pleasant on, did a LOT of work and pretty much all of it themselves. Stripping out three-inch thick concrete plaster from the living room and replacing it with massively superior lime; exposing an original fireplace found behind stud walls; installing an upstairs bathroom and raising ceilings to expose beams and create light and height, and generally opening up the space. Lovely job.
Here's the before and after of the reconfigured layout:

Here are a few before and after pics.

And outside, that drab garden with potential is starting to really make the most of those lovely views, as the picture at the top of this post and the before and after below show.

However, Mount Pleasant is now back on the market, as Alice explained:

We renovated it expecting to live here for a long time but having just had our second baby (our first was born just a few months after we moved in) we realise we need more space and do not have the energy left to extend.

As someone who is also gearing up to sell a house we've been renovating and living in for the past six years, I appreciate that whole running out of steam thing. Sometimes the joy is in doing the work and seeing the house reveal itself in all its hidden gorgeousness, as other 'Wreck' renovators have said, but life moves you on. 

And if your hard work delivers a decent renovation profit, that's a plus too ; )

Mount Pleasant is on the market through Hamptons at £400k. Details here and here.

I also want to give a shout-out to some Wreck readers who are blogging about their own renovations, some renovating properties I've featured, but all with really interesting renovation stories to tell.

Caroline in the Scottish Highlands is a serial renovator (and frequently sends me other gorgeous crofts she comes across). She has three renovations - her own home, Ethel's House (now a holiday let) and Tor Aluinn - and is now helping on the revamp of the local village hall. Phew!

Ethel's House was one of a bunch of Scottish crofts I featured back in 2015 - this three-bed at Armadale:

Caroline has done an AMAZING job on it:

And the detailing of the work on Ethel's House is really inspiring, with lots of useful information for anyone taking on a similar Scottish project (also, I love her paint choices!).  Her blog is The House Hoarder and well worth spending an afternoon browsing and making notes if you're thinking of going down the renovate to holiday let route.

Finally, Robin's blog 2bedroomterraced is also packed with tips and ideas for anyone who, like him, may be looking to buy and renovate multiple properties to sell. It's a great behind-the-scenes look from someone starting out on the renovate-develop journey and the sort of problems you're likely to tackle along the way.

Two (more) English country homes to renovate

I thought I'd stick with the English country homes theme for a little longer and show you two beautiful big and neglected homes.
Both are pricier than my usual picks but both are in lovely locations - and there's nothing wrong with a bit of fantasy house planning ; )
The first, sent to me by regular reader Paul, is just outside the little village of Dunnington, in Warwickshire.

Five bedrooms, Grade II listed, edge of village location and a decent chunk of land to play with - what's not to want?
Lovely light rooms and lots of original features. I particularly love these cupboards, though I suspect they'll end up being replaced with bi-fold doors or a shiny kitchen island and some macramé plant holders : (

However, I have NO any objections to the next owner replacing this fireplace with a wood burner and chunky stone mantel. And ditching that glass door.

Or that green paint.

Bags of space but clearly a fair bit of work ahead. Four reception rooms, central hall, kitchen and utility downstairs; five bedrooms, plus bathroom upstairs.
Albeit one bedroom is accessed through it's neighbour, so realistically we're looking at bedroom four becoming the en-suite or some other part of a master bedroom suite with bedroom one. So, are we thinking four or three bedrooms and two or more bathrooms?

I get a bit excited when I start looking at floorplans and potentially movable walls!

Old Dunnington Farmhouse is on the market at offers over £550k with Sheldon Bosley Knight. Details here and here.
My second pick is equally - possibly more - handsome.
And pricier. And wreckier.
It makes the cut however because, as reader Sue said when she sent me the link, "I liked the fairytale vegetation encroachment".

Haroldstone House, at Crickley Hill in the Cotswolds, is pretty fairytale throughout. And in a pretty magical location.
Agents Hollis Morgan describe it as a "forgotten gem" (not exactly forgotten, given the owner applied to convert the coach house  - below -  a couple of years ago). The property package includes the house itself, plus the coach house, plus a whopping 22 acres of land.

We're talking renovation challenge of, and probably for, a lifetime. But what a gorgeous space!
Packed with period stuff, as you'd expect. And more of that vegetation Sue mentioned.

Not so sure about the "air conditioning" in this picture:

Just needs a bit of TLC really, and a coach load of power tools and cash...
On the market through Hollis Morgan at £750k. Details here and here.