as it was

Front porch door

THIS, basically, is how the main chapel area looked after we’d been living here for 18 months and before we started the refurbishment. The bare stone walls look attractive enough, but they were crumbling, and the mortar was degenerating (is that the word?) and so the whole area was always covered in dust and grit. The windows, too, looked good but were in desperate need of repair and water-proofing. It was big, cold, draughty and impossible to heat. Oh yes – and there was, of course, no model railway room. How bad can things get?

Anyway – here’s what it was like. But not the downstairs, which we’ve hardly had to change apart from a bit of redecoration.

Main chapel - before

East-facing windows

Existing first floor bedroom

Temporary screen - before

Another view of the chapel from the balcony

View from the balcony

Balcony room - before

Ministers' names on the board

A cluttered, and temporary, railway room

Downstairs loo - rustic appeal?

Scaffolding was needed to change a light bulb.