GRAND DESIGNS
Behind the front door of an unassuming bungalow tucked away in a Ribble Valley village, a stunning renovation project is underway. Photography: Robin Lyndon
When engineer Mark Ross and his wife Debbie finished renovating their six-bedroom dream house they considered it to be their ‘forever home’ – but weeks later they were on the move.
Debbie had inherited a part share in a small bungalow in the Ribble Valley, owned by her late uncle. Mark explains: “It was a two bedroom bungalow and small holding. Our original thought was to sell it but between putting it up for sale and a week in Las Vegas, things changed!”
A conversation on a sunbed led the couple to start thinking about buying and renovating the bungalow into a luxury four-bedroom home: “We started to realise that there was so much potential,” recalls Mark, an engineer at BAE Systems.
While on holiday Mark had already started drawing up plans and the couple realised they could incorporate four en-suite bedrooms, a garden room with terrace, a dining kitchen with balcony and an underground wine cellar as well as a family lounge – all without changing the original footprint of the bungalow.
The renovation of their previous home was an indication of the couple’s determination and skill at turning projects around swiftly.
“That took us eight weeks,” says Mark, who with Debbie agreed they wanted to see her uncle’s bungalow and smallholding stay within the family. If it had been sold it most likely would have been bulldozed,” adds Mark.
So, the couple bought the bungalow last summer moving with their young son into a caravan on land which they had bought with the property.
Work began in earnest and for the first time in years, Mark and Debbie opened the basement garage and workshop to discover 40 tons of rubbish – which when removed revealed a space that is now a luxury garden room, bedroom and shower room. Next to the basement, they discovered an ‘undercroft’ – a wedge of land with an underground space that would be perfect for a small wine cellar with a spiral staircase leading from the ground floor dining kitchen above.
“As an engineer, I just thought, ‘We can do that – it’s not a problem we can build a wine cellar’. We had already done a lot of planning and design work and could visualise our dream,” adds Mark.
“So far nothing has set us back and we are now well on our way.”
While the project isn’t yet complete – the couple hope it will be finished by summer this year – Debbie and Mark have now moved into the bungalow, which from the exterior still appears to be a single storey property that is in need of a long-awaited renovation!
Go through the front door however and in the basement you will discover luxury living at its best with the newly converted garden room that has taken a matter of weeks to complete. Mark calculated that the work that he, Debbie and a family friend had done in just under two months amounted to 1300 man hours!
“That’s equivalent to an average year’s work!” he recalls.
In summer the bi-fold doors in the garden room will lead onto a large terrace complete with outdoor kitchen and barbecue: “We recently spent a holiday in France and we literally spent all our time outdoors so an outdoor kitchen was a must when planning how to use the outside space,” says Mark.
Above the garden room, on the ground floor there will soon be a beautiful family dining kitchen – complete with AGA and of course, access to the wine cellar, and an outside balcony overlooking the basement terrace.
Meanwhile the couple are managing with a makeshift second hand kitchen – complete with a beautiful gleaming Belfast sink – one of five discovered in the grounds of the property!
The upper floor will see more spacious bedrooms including a master bedroom complete with an en-suite featuring a huge free-standing copper bath that Mark bought on a whim from London – for half the original price.
Civil servant and animal lover Debbie, who is a registered Sharpei breeder, continues to work her magic on the interior favouring soft dove greys and neutrals that work particularly well blending traditional design with contemporary features.
“The entire village has shown a real interest in the project,” adds Mark, who is now known as ‘the bungalow man’! They can’t believe that we are living in it and they are really pleased that the bungalow hasn’t just been demolished.”
With four children and a grandchild between them, the couple are particularly thrilled to be surrounded by countryside where their young son can play and where the whole family can get together to enjoy outdoor living in the summer and cosy winters by the wood burning stove.
“While work on the renovation project is time-consuming we know it will be worth it. We could make faster progress but we want to have quality time with the family too,” agree Mark and Debbie. “We are really enjoying it and have no regrets whatsoever. This really is going to be our ‘forever home’!”
Watch this space! Live Ribble Valley will catch up with Mark and Debbie in a few months’ time to see how their ‘grand design’ is progressing
