Property Drop Issue 47

9
Within three years or so their hard
work had already made the house much
more “liveable” and since then, Roger
and Carol have continued making
improvements, most recently upgrading
the family bathroom and putting in an
en-suite for the master bedroom. The
result of their hard work and care is a
beautifully presented cottage, full of
character and personal touches and
with a really homely feel. There are
two reception rooms at the front of the
house, each with a feature fireplace;
a large dining room; a fitted kitchen
and utility/boot room and downstairs
cloakroom. Upstairs there are three
double bedrooms, the master with an
en-suite. There is also a contemporary
family bathroom.
Outside, the couple cleared the
brambles, knocked down old sheds
and pig pens, dug up the concrete and
managed to tame the grass to make
lawns. They made a formal garden to
the front of the house and planted the
grounds with specimen trees, including
magnolia and red beech, which are all
now well-established. A lovely garden
to relax in, this is also a productive one
– there’s a kitchen garden to the side of
the house, with raised vegetable beds;
an orchard planted with apple, pear and
other fruit trees and growing up the front
of the house is a thriving grape vine.
It’s also a garden which provided the
all-important space the couple wanted
for their three energetic
sons. They built them
a basketball pitch and
allowed them to take over
an old barn in the garden,
where they spent hours
doing up old cars. Some
of the land is fenced off to
form a paddock, currently
grazed by a neighbour’s
sheep, which has been a
great venue for all sorts
of happy family events –
picnics in the copse, “rip roaring” parties
and times when the local scouts used it
for games.
“This house has made a fantastic
family home,” says Roger, who will find it
hard to tear himself away from the place,
particularly now that, with the help of
his sons, he has built himself a “man cave
cum workshop”. Called The Black Pig,
the purpose-built, full-insulated building
at the end of the garden has water, power
and wifi connected and is warmed by
a wood burning stove. It’s where Roger
retreats to indulge his love of wood,
making beautiful wooden chopping
boards and mirrors from reclaimed
windows.
Some of his “window mirrors” are
displayed in the house and Roger’s
interest in wood and particularly
Canadian white pine is evident
throughout the property. He has even
planted one of the pine trees in the
garden. All is explained by the fact that
he made his career in the timber trade.
It’s why he took such
care to install bespoke
solid wood windows
and when it came to
the kitchen, he sourced
Canadian white pine from
the Ottawa Valley and had
the units specially made
by local bespoke joiner
Tudor Rose Carpentry. The
couple also chose to install
a wooden floor in the
dining room and Roger found reclaimed
wooden doors, which he stripped,
sanded and polished for the reception
rooms. The couple stripped the wooden
doors to the built-in alcove cupboards in
the snug to reveal their original beauty
and they removed layers of old paint to
uncover the original wooden panelling
on the staircase. At the same time, they
also opened up the area under the stairs
to create an ingenious, quirky nook.
In the snug, now Roger’s favourite
room, the couple replaced the ugly tiled
fireplace with a lovely Victorian cast
iron one, over which is displayed one of
Roger’s “window mirrors”. In the living
room, the couple have made a feature
of the working fireplace with a lovely
wooden mantelpiece and tiled surround
which was a reclamation yard find. The
hallway has also had a makeover, with
Roger building a lovely curved arch
to frame the entrance doorway. In the
bedrooms, Carol has made good use of
her skills as a talented needlewoman.
She has made pretty blinds and soft
furnishings and, for one of the guest
bedrooms, a lovely hand worked
patchwork bedcover and an embroidered
map of New House which is displayed
on the wall above the bed.
Everywhere in this homely and wellloved
abode there are personal touches,
features, paintings and ornaments which
hold a story, a treasured memory, a piece
of family history. It will be hard for Roger
and Carol to tear
themselves away,
but they are both
agreed that it’s time
for a new family to
put down roots and
make memories at
New House.
Sharon Chilcott
Get the Look
The smart, new family bathroom was sourced
from Lydney Bathrooms and Kitchens, Lydney
Industrial Estate, Harbour Rd, Lydney
01594 841924 www.lydneybathrooms.co.uk.
Get the Lifestyle
Roger makes wooden window mirrors, in evidence around the house and
also wooden cheese boards and chopping boards under the brand Black Pig
Enterprises which he sells at craft fairs, but mostly gives away as gifts.
New House, The Common, Woolaston, near Lydney is on the market for £675,000 with Ferrino and Partners,
47 High Street, Lydney 01594 811111 www.ferrino.co.uk
Carol used a curtain tieback as an
inspired alternative to a door handle in
one of the reclaimed doors.