Latest Construction

Attached are the latest photos our the house. If you watch the video below and then look at the photos, the house will be hard to recognise.

History: We bought the house in October with planning permission and building regulations approved to add an extension for a 3rd bedroom, bathroom and conservatory. We bought it with the intention of staying in London for a while and renting the house out until we are ready to move out to the countryside. It's located 30 miles outside London, near Tim's parents house. We thought the house would be ready to rent early this year but we ended up having a construction nightmare: The soil was wrong to build the house. So, rather than go to the Rowe wedding in Thailand, we thought that buying 7 meter deep piling (the worst, most expensive option), to ensure the foundation stays secure, would be more fun than going to Thailand. Who needs vacation anyway? Who needs sunshine, relaxation, warm sand and blue ocean views? Look at this foundation! So beautiful, so inspirational...

We have really nice neighbours, Noel and Alison. Here, Tim and Noel are admiring the fine craftmanship of the fine piling job.

To add the 3rd bedroom, we had to turn the staircase around (not we, Darren, our builder) and rip lots of holes in the walls. The green stuff is the tarp that separates this little cottage from the harsh elements of the British winter.

We have spent many fun hours in both various home improvement shops and garden centres. Please tell me life will go back to normal after this. It really has affected our dinner party chat as well. Don't invite us around for a while because we are very enthusiastic about trees and shrubs these days. Tim's parents gardener had some serious connections at the local garden centre where we bought these little trees at a formidable discount, however, they don't seem too happy in their new home. Tim and I haven't quite mastered the shovel and compost.

The upside to our place is that it's a great period cottage, detached from other houses (very rare in the UK if you want to live close to a bigger town/city), built in the 1800's, with a stylish interior. And the view from our window is of countryside. Stay tuned!