Converting a disused farm building into a dream home is a challenge but taking on a whole set of them including a decaying mill, a waterlogged house and centuries-old outbuildings, is another challenge altogether.
A couple want to turn the 16th century Abbey Lane in Warwickshire into a family home.
The 16th-century Old Manor in Norfolk is a hotchpotch of architectural styles. The Grade II listed property is full of history, but beset by damp, woodworm and death watch beetle. It is an overwhelming project to take on and yet new owners, Polly and Erich, are determined to turn this crumbling property into their dream home. As work gets under way, expensive and unforeseen structural problems are uncovered. Meanwhile, the historical and architectural investigations start to yield results. A leading expert thinks he has identified the original church location of the stained glass windows which firmly dates them to Henry VIII's Reformation. As Polly and Erich think they have sorted out the major problems, disaster strikes again. The Old Manor is broken into and badly vandalised.
An imposing, three-storey Georgian house towers incongruously above the low-rise, modern housing development that surrounds it. The Elms, a Grade II listed building in Derbyshire, is in a dreadful condition - it has no stairs or floors. It's defied a string of developer attempts to turn it into a money-spinning property. Empty for eight years, it's slipping into a state of ruin and will soon be beyond help. Enter three generations of the same family who live just 200 metres away and had been thinking about the Elms for years. They fell in love with it and bought it. As the restoration gets underway, it emerges that one of the most influential past owners of the house turned accepted convention on its head that would have sent shock waves through the society of the day. Meanwhile, finances have become stretched to the point where the builders have been laid off.
Sandford House is one of only two houses north of the border designed by arts and crafts architect Baillie Scott. It's a rare survivor, but how did such a building representing an important moment in British architecture end up in the lowlands of Scotland? Built as a famiy home in 1902, it spent half of its life as a 3-star hotel. Now abandoned, it fell into serious disrepair. Classed as a Category B property, the second highest listing for buildings in Scotland, it was in desperate need of help. Local couple Ralph and Evelyn had known the building for years. It used to be their local pub. As they watched it go downhill, their determination grew to save it. As the restoration starts to eat money, an intriguing tale of who built Sandford starts to emerge, linking it to Queen Victoria and an international business that operated across the world.
Coldbrook Farm is a 17th century Grade II listed Welsh farmhouse. Run-down, off the beaten track surrounded by working farm buildings in a muddy yard, its lavish carved Tudor timberwork is a clue that there is more to this farmhouse than meets the eye. As owners Bill and Kim grapple with the challenges of mixing old and modern, architectural expert Kieran Long and historian Kate Williams dig deep into the archives uncovering evidence that points towards Coldbrook's possible links with one of the most powerful lords in Britain.
