0:00:02 > 0:00:05On the last series of Restoration Home,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08we followed the stories of six historic buildings
0:00:08 > 0:00:10that desperately needed saving.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Yeah, we love it, we want to finish it,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17but sometimes it just feels like it's too much.
0:00:17 > 0:00:18Lift and push.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22Six new owners spent hundreds of thousands of pounds
0:00:22 > 0:00:24transforming them into their dream homes.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29It looks incredible.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35You've got your dream kitchen. It is dreamy.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38But there was still work to do.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41We'll still get it done. We'll spite them all.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45So one year on, we're going back to see what's changed.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Wow. Well, it's done.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Got the house.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52It's lovely to see it finished now. Actually furnished and lived in.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54We'll meet the crafts people
0:00:54 > 0:00:57whose work helped save these historic homes.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02And the people who's stories provide a living link to the past.
0:01:02 > 0:01:03That's amazing.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Set deep in the beautiful Monmouthshire countryside
0:01:14 > 0:01:16in South Wales is Coldbrook Farm.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24Two years ago, it looked like any other rundown farmhouse.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28But inside, there was some exceptional Tudor timberwork,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31that in the past had earned it a grade two listing.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36The farmhouse was owned by Bill Parry and Kim Harris.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39During the week, they lived and worked in London,
0:01:39 > 0:01:44but for the past 12 years, they'd used Coldbrook as a weekend home.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46- Who's the sheepdog?- Me!
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Bill grew up here. In fact, on the farm next door.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Right. Come on, Kim. Hurry up. Go and get the sheep. Hey!
0:01:53 > 0:01:56He and Kim had always wanted to restore Coldbrook
0:01:56 > 0:01:59and turn it into their family home.
0:01:59 > 0:02:00You got 'em, Finny. Whoa!
0:02:01 > 0:02:03I've lived in London long enough and I feel,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06especially with the kids getting older, schooling,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09and I just want the kids to be able to run around in the fields.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12And I feel as though I'm coming home. This is the family farm.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15My father's still here, my uncle's farm is up there,
0:02:15 > 0:02:17another uncle's farm is there. I feel,
0:02:17 > 0:02:19coming back to where I belong.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21Where are they going?
0:02:21 > 0:02:23We don't want 'em going in the house, do we?
0:02:25 > 0:02:28But for Kim and Bill, there was more to Coldbrook Farm
0:02:28 > 0:02:30than just a new home in the country.
0:02:32 > 0:02:33Over the years
0:02:33 > 0:02:36they had been picking away at the 20th century additions in the house
0:02:36 > 0:02:38to see what lay beneath.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43This room looked very different. Completely different.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45It was all shiny white concrete walls.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49So, nothing, none of this stone or anything was exposed.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52All these beams were covered up.
0:02:54 > 0:02:55As each layer came away,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58they began to realise how special their farmhouse was.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05It was going to have to be a careful restoration and modernisation.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08They budgeted £350,000.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Work started in spring 2011.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24The restoration was scheduled to last for eight months,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27so the family could move in by mid-October.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34The historic timberwork was powder blasted
0:03:34 > 0:03:36to strip off centuries of paint and grime.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41While up on the roof, all the tiles were removed,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44so the 16th century roof structure could be repaired.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56I came to visit a few weeks after work had started.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00'Approaching Coldbrook, it's easy to forget there's more to this
0:04:00 > 0:04:01'place than the average farm.'
0:04:03 > 0:04:04Oh, this room.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08'That is until you go inside.'
0:04:10 > 0:04:11I've never seen beams like this.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15We've been told that in the 16th century
0:04:15 > 0:04:18when we believe these beams were installed that it would have
0:04:18 > 0:04:22taken one man one year to carve the whole beam.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26- What is this room? Was this used for something?- Well, yeah, yeah.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28You know, to put beams in that took one year to build
0:04:28 > 0:04:30and all of these doors...
0:04:30 > 0:04:33The average farmer wouldn't have done that, I wouldn't have thought
0:04:33 > 0:04:35- In the 16th century.- No.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39So why does it have such an ornate room like this one?
0:04:40 > 0:04:43'For their restoration, Bill and Kim were planning to add some
0:04:43 > 0:04:46'very extravagant woodwork of their own.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49'A new staircase that would go from the living room all the way
0:04:49 > 0:04:50'up to the attic.'
0:04:50 > 0:04:54The original staircase sort of came up here and went up like that
0:04:54 > 0:05:00and we're going to have... The new one is carved oak, sort of spiral,
0:05:00 > 0:05:05sort of spiralling round with a glass panel here.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Spirals up to the first floor, a glass panel round
0:05:08 > 0:05:11and it'll spiral up again to the second floor.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15- Is it really expensive? - It is expensive.- Yes.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18- Do you know what it's going to cost? - Well, yes.- Yeah. I know very well.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21- Are you going to tell?- Yeah. - Are you going to tell me though?
0:05:21 > 0:05:23I'm embarrassed to tell you that it's going to
0:05:23 > 0:05:28cost £25,000 to put in some steps to go upstairs.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35'Outside the house there are working farm buildings used every day
0:05:35 > 0:05:37'by Bill's dad Brian.'
0:05:38 > 0:05:40How do you feel about him doing it up?
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Well, it's a great stuff, isn't it?
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Yeah, he's a bit thoughtful.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Because I just thought they were going to spoil Coldbrook
0:05:48 > 0:05:51by knocking it about cos I liked it as it was.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55But now I can see, you know, the gift of it
0:05:55 > 0:06:00and I think they've got a good architect doing what should be done.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05Inside the house, though, the plans were causing problems for
0:06:05 > 0:06:06some of the trades.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12With most of the beams being left exposed
0:06:12 > 0:06:14and the stone walls bare,
0:06:14 > 0:06:19where was electrician Jack Lloyd supposed to hide his cables?
0:06:19 > 0:06:20It's just giving me a headache.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24You just have to run one cable which should take ten minutes
0:06:24 > 0:06:26but, you know, you look at the drawing,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29you speak to the foreman and he says it can't go that way.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33It's a nightmare. It's just tricky, you know.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39As the builders brought the house into the 21st century,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42we were trying to dig up all we could about its past.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Historian Dr Kate Williams would search the archives to track
0:06:47 > 0:06:52down the people whose lives have been bound up with the house,
0:06:52 > 0:06:56while architectural expert Kieran Long was looking for clues
0:06:56 > 0:06:58in the building itself.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00He started in the grandest room.
0:07:02 > 0:07:03Wow, look at this.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12It's like walking into a kind of Tudor fantasy somehow.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Like these huge dark timbers and this amazing oak screen here.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20And we even have pointed doorways. You know, that kind of gothic point.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24I mean, it's just like stepping into another era here. It's fantastic.
0:07:24 > 0:07:25What I love about this is
0:07:25 > 0:07:27how excessive it looks to our eyes today.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29We're so used to seeing the kind of pathetic little
0:07:29 > 0:07:32architraves that we have around doors in our own homes.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35And, you know, that's the kind of fading memory
0:07:35 > 0:07:36of something like this.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38I mean, look at the size of it and the heft of it.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43I mean, it's two huge bits of tree stuck together and then carved.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47But what was all this lavish carved timberwork doing here?
0:07:47 > 0:07:50And exactly how old was it?
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Kieran asked Dr Dan Miles from the Oxford Dendrochronology Lab
0:07:53 > 0:07:54to find out.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Dendrochronology is the science of dating wood
0:07:59 > 0:08:01using the tree's growth rings.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Each year, the tree will put on one ring on the outside,
0:08:06 > 0:08:07just under the bark.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11And if it's a very dry year, that'll be a very narrow ring
0:08:11 > 0:08:13cos the tree didn't grow much.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15But if it's a really good year, warm and moist,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19the tree will grow much faster, put on a much wider ring.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22We actually have to measure each ring, put it on a graph
0:08:22 > 0:08:25and put it through statistical analysis on the computer.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28And if we have the edge of the bark, which we've got here,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31then we'd actually be able to work out the season of the year
0:08:31 > 0:08:32the tree was cut down.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39Dan took wood core samples that he could analyse back at the lab.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43If they could discover when the house was built, it could
0:08:43 > 0:08:46help solve the mystery of Coldbrook farm -
0:08:46 > 0:08:49why some of the finest carved timberwork in Wales was in
0:08:49 > 0:08:52an ordinary farmhouse, well off the beaten track.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Five months into the restoration, Kim and Bill held a site meeting
0:08:59 > 0:09:00with their architects,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04Martin Hall and his partner and wife Kelly Bednarczyk.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07They had to make decisions on the stain colour
0:09:07 > 0:09:08for the new floorboards.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Kim favoured the lighter ones.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15My position is strong. It is strong.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19I do want to feel supported.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23And I like that but I need to sell it to Bill.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27- Bill, isn't this by far and away the nicest?- Compared to what?
0:09:27 > 0:09:30Oh, all of these? Which one's the nicest, Kim?
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Tell me which one's nicest. Oh, that one. Yeah, you're right.
0:09:33 > 0:09:34HE CHUCKLES
0:09:34 > 0:09:37- No, I prefer this one. - You think that, don't you, Kelly?
0:09:37 > 0:09:40I think that was my personal favourite, the antique one.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42I think... Are we painting this white?
0:09:42 > 0:09:46White and that, you could be in almost a modern house somewhere.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48I want to live in an old house not a modern house.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51It's too sanitised with lovely white, you know,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54clean, bright floorboards and white walls.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57No-one could be persuaded to go for the antique?
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Do you know? A while ago, about last year, I was all over that.
0:09:59 > 0:10:05- But it's the whole dark thing.- But the joinery here is dark.- I know.
0:10:05 > 0:10:06Exactly.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10The floorboards that we chose today weren't the floorboards that
0:10:10 > 0:10:12I wanted to choose at all.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16But everyone's right and they are quite nice.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19It's just they're a bit dark, which is... I wanted everything to
0:10:19 > 0:10:21be as light as possible cos the house is quite dark.
0:10:21 > 0:10:22But they are right,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26they should really be dark to fit in with all the wood.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28And they'll be beautiful.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31The next decision was the doors.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34They all had to be custom made because every doorway in
0:10:34 > 0:10:36the house was a different size.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40We sent them off to the joinery company to get priced and they've
0:10:40 > 0:10:46come back with prices and it's not an exaggeration to say the prices
0:10:46 > 0:10:49are basically double the provisional sum that's in the contract.
0:10:49 > 0:10:54- How much over? In total, how much over is it?- Yeah.- In total.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57Well, I guess it'd be pretty much 100% over.
0:11:01 > 0:11:02The doors were expensive
0:11:02 > 0:11:05but not as dear as the architect-designed staircase.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11It was being built by master joiner Sam Thomas.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16I have made a lot of staircases and probably, as my time as a joiner,
0:11:16 > 0:11:21probably a couple of thousand maybe, but nothing quite like this.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24Sometimes it's a lot easier to draw something than to make something.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29Architects try and make their own design
0:11:29 > 0:11:32and their own thing on something but it's not easy to get there.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Some nights, I do go home and think about what I'm going to do
0:11:35 > 0:11:38the next day and how I'm going to go about it, yes.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Sometimes I wished he'd pay me for my time at home as well then,
0:11:41 > 0:11:42put it that way.
0:11:47 > 0:11:5080 miles away at the Oxford Dendrochronology Lab,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54Dr Dan Miles had been analysing the timber cores he took in order
0:11:54 > 0:11:58to discover exactly when Coldbrook was built.
0:11:58 > 0:11:59He had an answer.
0:12:00 > 0:12:06We can show that the house was probably built, probably in 1538
0:12:06 > 0:12:08because the tree was still growing that winter.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13The tree was probably cut down during the winter of 1537-8
0:12:13 > 0:12:15and were used probably right away.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20Although the great big tree used for those big window jambs were
0:12:20 > 0:12:24cut down a couple of years before, in 1535-6.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Having a precise build date of 1538
0:12:30 > 0:12:33was a significant discovery for this Tudor building
0:12:33 > 0:12:36and meant it could have had a very illustrious connection.
0:12:38 > 0:12:39Richard Suggett is from
0:12:39 > 0:12:44the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.
0:12:44 > 0:12:45It's very interesting.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50Coldbrook, like so many vernacular houses, is a documentary blank.
0:12:50 > 0:12:51There's just nothing there.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55And yet the house says, you know, the person who built it was
0:12:55 > 0:12:57a person of consequence.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00So I think you can start making some reasonable
0:13:00 > 0:13:04speculations about the identity of the builder.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09It's very near Raglan and we know that the Earl of Pembroke,
0:13:09 > 0:13:14who died in 1469, had a lot of illegitimate children whom
0:13:14 > 0:13:20he settled on various estates and I think it's quite possible,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24although not susceptible to proof yet, that the people who
0:13:24 > 0:13:28built Coldbrook were actually descended from the Earl of Pembroke.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30So, yes, quite extraordinary.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Raglan Castle was owned by William Herbert,
0:13:37 > 0:13:38the First Earl of Pembroke.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44The castle is just two miles from Coldbrook Farm.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47So if the farmhouse was built for one of the earl's illegitimate
0:13:47 > 0:13:50children, that might explain all the fine carved timber.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54Historian Kate Williams now had a lead to follow.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01In the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, she researched
0:14:01 > 0:14:04the Herbert family - the Earls of Pembroke
0:14:04 > 0:14:07who lived at Raglan Castle in the 15th century.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13In front of me, I've got two family trees rather different.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15One of all the legitimate children of the Herberts
0:14:15 > 0:14:18and one of the illegitimate children of the Herberts.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20So here we've got the Earl of Pembroke,
0:14:20 > 0:14:24his son and then all their many illegitimate children.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27But unlike quite a lot of other aristocratic families
0:14:27 > 0:14:30the illegitimate children, the natural sons of course,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33not the daughters, are taken into the circle of inheritance.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35They all become of places,
0:14:35 > 0:14:39they all are, say, Edward Herbert OF somewhere.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42So they gain a house, they gain an estate, they gain land.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Even though they're just natural sons, they get a great stature.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50Kate couldn't find a paper trail back to Coldbrook Farm so
0:14:50 > 0:14:52the idea that it was built
0:14:52 > 0:14:54for one of the earl's illegitimate sons wasn't proved.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58It would have to remain just conjecture.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03Check if they're level.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06After nine weeks in the workshop Sam Thomas had brought
0:15:06 > 0:15:08the spiral staircase to Coldbrook to assemble it.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16But it looked like there had been a terrible mistake.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21We started doing... Set out really, marked things where we needed
0:15:21 > 0:15:26to mark things and get things in place and this is going to
0:15:26 > 0:15:29be our first bit but there is a problem with this.
0:15:29 > 0:15:36And there's a slight issue with the floor, which is not what
0:15:36 > 0:15:38measurements I had, you know, to what we made,
0:15:38 > 0:15:40to what is here at the moment.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43In other words, it didn't fit.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45The first flight was too tall.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48It's about 70mm, to be fair.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52So, yeah, it's quite a big issue to get over as well.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59With hundreds of man hours already invested in the stairs,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Sam hoped that the architect could come up with a solution
0:16:02 > 0:16:04apart from remaking it all from scratch.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14Down in London it was moving day.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19The children were starting new schools in Wales and,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22as Kim and Bill were keeping their jobs, they were planning to commute
0:16:22 > 0:16:25back to the city for a few days each week.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32A little bit of me is slightly concerned that I might start feeling
0:16:32 > 0:16:37a bit sort of isolated down there but I'm not that worried about that.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39Keep me out of trouble.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41Coldbrook wasn't finished yet.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45Until it was, the family would live in a caravan on site.
0:16:46 > 0:16:52- We are emigrating. Fantastic. - Have you got the passports?- Yeah.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57Another economic migrant returns home. Here we go.
0:16:57 > 0:16:58THEY LAUGH
0:17:12 > 0:17:16At Coldbrook Farm there had been some good news about the stairs.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19They did fit.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22It turned out it was the floor that was wrong.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25It was meant to be raised but no-one had got round to it
0:17:25 > 0:17:27by the time the stairs arrived.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30There's always the risk with something which is made
0:17:30 > 0:17:34off-site in this way and is totally...
0:17:34 > 0:17:35totally fits together in this way that
0:17:35 > 0:17:39you could have created the world's most expensive pile of kindling.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43And I'm obviously hugely pleased that that isn't what's happened.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50This wasn't the final finish of the wood.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53Sam still had weeks of work to do applying an oak veneer.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57But when that was done, Bill and Kim would find out if mixing
0:17:57 > 0:18:01modern design with an historic house really was a good idea.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14This is Raglan Castle,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17the ancestral home of the Earls of Pembroke.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22With Kate drawing a blank in the archive, Kieran was trying to
0:18:22 > 0:18:25establish a link between here and the farm.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28So we've been searching the castle, in a way, for references,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30architectural references that might lead us
0:18:30 > 0:18:33to a comparison with Coldbrook and I think I've found one.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37I mean, this doorway upstairs, we know there was once a dining room
0:18:37 > 0:18:41right above here in the castle and the doorway is strikingly similar.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44You know, you could imagine that, in Coldbrook Farm, the craftsmen
0:18:44 > 0:18:46were looking at this kind of decoration and reproducing it
0:18:46 > 0:18:49with the materials they had to hand, which was, of course, timber.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51So it's not definitive proof
0:18:51 > 0:18:53and it certainly doesn't mean that the same craftsmen worked here
0:18:53 > 0:18:56and in Coldbrook but there's definitely an influence,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59there's a kind of idiom of gothic castle architecture
0:18:59 > 0:19:01from the 14th and 15th century
0:19:01 > 0:19:04that is somehow finding its way through to Coldbrook Farm.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16'One year after Kim and Bill started the restoration of Coldbrook Farm,
0:19:16 > 0:19:18'I went to see how they'd got on.'
0:19:18 > 0:19:22- Lovely to see you. It looks fantastic.- Thank you.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27- Are you thrilled?- Yes.- Yeah.- We're thrilled.- We finally got there.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31When they started this restoration, the house was worn out and broken.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35Fireplaces were in danger of collapse, Tudor timbers were
0:19:35 > 0:19:39being eaten away and the whole place desperately needed modernisation.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Kim! The staircase!
0:19:48 > 0:19:52- Yeah. It looks great.- Yes.
0:19:52 > 0:19:53Do you like it, Bill?
0:19:53 > 0:19:57I... Against all my will, I love it, yeah.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Well worth it, actually. Well worth the money spent on it.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04I love it. I love the way it ties in the wood,
0:20:04 > 0:20:07the old wood and the kind of modern use of the house.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10- Yeah. And it doesn't take over.- No. - It sits on the side of the wall.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Yeah. It's really lovely.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17The stairs go all the way up to the attic, where Kim and Bill's bright
0:20:17 > 0:20:21and stylish bedroom had been created under the ancient roof timbers.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26The children's bedrooms are on the first floor...
0:20:27 > 0:20:31..where there's also a guest bedroom and a big family bathroom.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37'White walls throughout tie everything together,
0:20:37 > 0:20:39'as do the new oak floorboards,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43'stained dark to blend in with the old timber.'
0:20:43 > 0:20:49- Kim, these floors, you wanted a lighter floor.- Yes.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54- I always wanted light floors but everybody else opposed me.- Did they?
0:20:54 > 0:20:57- Yes! Everyone. So I thought, "Fair enough."- Are you happy?
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Probably right. Yeah, I was just very keen on getting as much
0:21:01 > 0:21:04light in here as possible and... But, no, they were right.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06Everyone's right as usual.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11'Also designed to match the old timbers were the custom made doors.'
0:21:11 > 0:21:17- Bill?- Yes.- How much did this door cost?- Well, too much.- Not £1,000.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21- Something not far off it. Yeah. - You've got a lot of doors.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23You must have spent all your money on doors.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Yeah, but I was quite pleased to do that.
0:21:25 > 0:21:26I really enjoyed that bit of it.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28THEY LAUGH
0:21:30 > 0:21:33'But the most impressive timberwork was in the room
0:21:33 > 0:21:36'with the Tudor beams that was now Kim and Bill's dining room.'
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Oh, the historical part of the home.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44It's delightful.
0:21:45 > 0:21:52Is it very different from living in a sort of modern London home?
0:21:52 > 0:21:56It's fabulous having all these sort of features around
0:21:56 > 0:21:58and the wood is very comforting
0:21:58 > 0:22:03but we do have a lot of mod cons in here that we've never had before.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08'And most of those mod cons were in the room
0:22:08 > 0:22:12'that used to be the old barn next door,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14'which has now been completely transformed into a very
0:22:14 > 0:22:16'stylish farmhouse kitchen...
0:22:22 > 0:22:24'..but also included a mezzanine play area
0:22:24 > 0:22:26'to keep the kids close by.'
0:22:27 > 0:22:31I love the fact that from here I can see the old beams and the wood
0:22:31 > 0:22:34and then this, you know, shiny bit of modern technology
0:22:34 > 0:22:37and all that, out to the sort of ancient view.
0:22:37 > 0:22:43I think it's just... It actually makes me feel quite jealous.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52The restoration of Coldbrook was originally budgeted at £350,000.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55In the end, the final bill was nearer 400.
0:23:07 > 0:23:08It's now a year since
0:23:08 > 0:23:12the restoration of Coldbrook Farm was finished
0:23:12 > 0:23:16and Kim, Bill and the family have settled in to their rural life.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23I'm surprised at how quickly it has become home or...
0:23:23 > 0:23:25Straightaway it felt like home.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Everywhere you walk around the house,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32there's something nice to look at.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Every window's got a great view and the rolling hills
0:23:35 > 0:23:37and the sunsets and the space.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40And the stairs are lovely
0:23:40 > 0:23:44so every time I walk up the stairs I think, "Gosh, what nice stairs."
0:23:44 > 0:23:47The modern stairs are one of the most striking features
0:23:47 > 0:23:49of the restoration.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56They were built at this workshop by master joiner Sam Thomas.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02It took him and his colleague 700 hours
0:24:02 > 0:24:04to make the complicated structure.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08And to begin with, Bill wasn't impressed.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12I do remember when I turned up there to fit it
0:24:12 > 0:24:15and it was all in bits on the back of our truck, and we'd
0:24:15 > 0:24:18taken it off the truck and we'd laid it out on the floor in there
0:24:18 > 0:24:20and his face was a picture to me
0:24:20 > 0:24:22cos he walked in and he sort of, "Well, is that it?"
0:24:24 > 0:24:28And I said, "Yeah," and he said... Well, he just couldn't believe it,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31that that was going to be it and it was all in little bits on the floor.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33But, yeah, it was amusing.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Well, the design of that staircase I thought was very different
0:24:38 > 0:24:41and very unusual for an old place like that.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44It's quite modern for something that old.
0:24:44 > 0:24:45But it turned out all right in the end.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47I think it looked real good in there, to be fair.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53As a craftsman himself, Sam was also impressed by the joinery
0:24:53 > 0:24:55the Tudor chippies had put in the house.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59I'm amazed by them.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02I'm amazed by how they achieved the things they achieved with
0:25:02 > 0:25:05so little to what we have today.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10The main beams in one of the rooms was a big focal point of the house.
0:25:10 > 0:25:16Well, to do that today would be... amazing really. Difficult to do.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18You know, even with the machines we've got here,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22it'd be a lot of handwork and, yeah, I take my hat off to them guys
0:25:22 > 0:25:24cos that is real clever stuff.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Sam has been a joiner for over 30 years.
0:25:31 > 0:25:32'It does take a long time.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34'Yeah, you just don't get good over two or three years
0:25:34 > 0:25:36'although that's all your apprenticeship is.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40'It takes you 20, 30 years. I'm still learning now as today.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44'It just takes time and just keep learning all the time.'
0:25:48 > 0:25:52Why do I do it? Well, I love my job. I always loved my job.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54I enjoy it very much.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58'Some jobs are really satisfying. Some are not.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00'But the good outweigh the bad most of the time.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02'I think that's why we just love it.'
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Seeing your product at the end of the day
0:26:04 > 0:26:06when somebody else appreciates it, as well.
0:26:06 > 0:26:07Like the stairs at Coldbrook.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09It wasn't appreciated right at the beginning
0:26:09 > 0:26:13but I think right at the end it was, which was well good.
0:26:13 > 0:26:14Made my day, that did.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25Bill's dad Brian had worked the farm at Coldbrook for over 50 years.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30He's pleased that the house has finally been restored.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Being a country boy, it was hard to visualise all that they were
0:26:34 > 0:26:37going to do but it came right in the end.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Whoa.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43Plenty of room for the children to run about and play.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45As long as the youngsters are pleased with it,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48that's all that matters, isn't it? It's their future. Not mine.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54We are living on a working farm, without doing all the hard work,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56obviously, but that's the great thing, isn't it?
0:26:56 > 0:27:01- Yeah, it's great. You love watching people work.- Yes, I do!
0:27:01 > 0:27:02Nothing better.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08In any restoration,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11there's always something that doesn't turn out quite as planned.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14At Coldbrook, it was the floorboards.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19Kim had never liked the dark stain on them so, whilst Bill was away,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23she asked the builders to sand them back to their original light colour.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27No, I wasn't here when we had a dramatic change of floor colour
0:27:27 > 0:27:32but I went off for a few days working and leaving nice
0:27:32 > 0:27:37dark floorboards and I came back and they were all light.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41It was just so dark. So I'm pleased that I'm right.
0:27:41 > 0:27:42THEY LAUGH
0:27:45 > 0:27:49Kim's eye for design hasn't been missed by her children.
0:27:49 > 0:27:55Mummy cares about the house because she decided where we had to sleep,
0:27:55 > 0:28:00how...where the chairs and stuff were going,
0:28:00 > 0:28:06where the TV was going and she decided everything, really.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Both Bill and Kim are still in their old jobs.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16They can work from home for some of the time but both have to
0:28:16 > 0:28:18spend a few days a week in London.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22It is a bit hectic sometimes. It is a bit.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26A little bit stressful but, on the whole, it's excellent.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Feels like we've got the best of both worlds.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30It's nice to see everyone in the office.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32It's nice to go out to meetings.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35It's nice to go around on the Tube and see the West End.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38It's nice to do all that and then it's just nice coming back as well.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40So it works well.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Both have family locally who help with childcare and neither of
0:28:45 > 0:28:49them have any regrets about their decision to restore Coldbrook Farm
0:28:49 > 0:28:51and move to the country.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55- It's lovely. We love it. - Yeah, love it.- Love it. It's great.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58Really great. I can't believe it actually.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00Can't believe that we live here.
0:29:06 > 0:29:12I feel a bit... Not embarrassed but I feel a bit spoilt by living in,
0:29:12 > 0:29:14you know, such a nice house and so it's not really me.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17You know, we've never really lived in a nice house before
0:29:17 > 0:29:20so it's taken a bit of getting used to, really.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33Our next restoration home is Old Manor, a Grade II listed
0:29:33 > 0:29:36house in the Central Norfolk village of Saham Toney.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42When we first visited two years ago,
0:29:42 > 0:29:44Old Manor was on its last legs -
0:29:44 > 0:29:46full of damp...
0:29:47 > 0:29:50..woodworm and deathwatch beetle.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55You'd have thought this was the last restoration project
0:29:55 > 0:29:57anyone would consider taking on.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01But solicitor Polly Grieff and her French husband Erich
0:30:01 > 0:30:03fell in love with the place.
0:30:03 > 0:30:04That beam up there, look.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07You can see it's got some kind of a mould on it.
0:30:07 > 0:30:08That needs changing.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11When you walk into a house, sometimes there are friendly houses
0:30:11 > 0:30:14and there are unfriendly houses and this one is a friendly house.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18It's a bit like a sort of little old lady waiting for a face-lift
0:30:18 > 0:30:21and we're coming in to make her better.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24- An expensive face-lift.- Yeah.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28I shall never be able to afford one for myself once I've paid for this.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31A lot of the building looked like it needed far more serious surgery.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36- This is rotten. - Is it crumbly? Oh, God.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38'The world thinks I'm completely mad
0:30:38 > 0:30:41'but sometimes you've just got to go with your heart.'
0:30:41 > 0:30:45If you're taking on a challenge, you might as well take on a big one.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48- That was made the day you were born.- Oh, thank you, sir.
0:30:48 > 0:30:53Thank you so much. And as you are older than I am...
0:30:53 > 0:30:54Toad!
0:30:57 > 0:31:01Polly paid £400,000 to buy Old Manor.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05The plan was to sell their Liverpool home and move to Norfolk
0:31:05 > 0:31:09because this was where her family originally came from.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11Her son Max lives locally.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15He's a builder and he worried that Old Manor's pebble-dashed walls
0:31:15 > 0:31:17were hiding some very bad news.
0:31:18 > 0:31:25Unfortunately, in the '60s, this greyer stuff is the concrete render
0:31:25 > 0:31:29that the '60s people decided to spoil the house with,
0:31:29 > 0:31:33which is not allowing the oak beams to breathe.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37They've all got dry rot and woodworm
0:31:37 > 0:31:40and everything due to the fact that they put this on.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44Some of those problems were already evident
0:31:44 > 0:31:47in the oak-panelled Jacobean dining room.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51I've loved this room ever since I first saw it. Needs attention.
0:31:51 > 0:31:56Over on the other side of the room it's got deathwatch beetle in it.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00So I want to save this. It's got drawing pins in it.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03It's been battered.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06It's been generally knocked about a lot
0:32:06 > 0:32:09but it's still very, very beautiful.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16Polly's restoration of the Old Manor wasn't going to come cheap.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19We're looking to spend between £200,000 and £300,000 to get
0:32:19 > 0:32:23it to be the sort of splendid house that it's going to be in the end.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26Erich was retired and on a modest pension.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28So Polly was the main breadwinner.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32She was relying mainly on her income to fund and drive
0:32:32 > 0:32:33the restoration forward.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38But it wouldn't be enough to see the whole project through.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41If we can sell the house in Liverpool then that's fine,
0:32:41 > 0:32:45I've got enough to cover it. But it's juggling the financial balls
0:32:45 > 0:32:48and keeping them all in the air while getting this project
0:32:48 > 0:32:51finished which is going to be the major problem I can see.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57As Polly wrestled with the finances, architectural expert Kieran Long
0:32:57 > 0:33:01began his investigation of Old Manor by seeing what
0:33:01 > 0:33:03the building itself could tell him.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08Well, it doesn't look that special in some ways.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12It's a bit of a pebble-dashed haunted house.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14But there are already some things that are really
0:33:14 > 0:33:16interesting about it.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18These fantastic chimney stacks. They're really spectacular.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22We've got this kind of typical suburban pebble-dashing and then in
0:33:22 > 0:33:24front of us here, in a way,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27something that is unmistakably ancient fabric.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29This, you know, could be 16th century,
0:33:29 > 0:33:30perhaps even older than that.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33You can tell by the proportions of the door first of all.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35People were shorter. It's as simple as that.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37So if this is 500 years old,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40the average height of a farmer in Norfolk would probably be
0:33:40 > 0:33:43a head shorter than me so this would have been fine.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49But it was on the other side of the house, where the modern
0:33:49 > 0:33:53concrete render had fallen away and exposed original timbers,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56that Kieran found the clearest evidence that Old Manor started its
0:33:56 > 0:33:59life as a medieval building.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03Perhaps, at first glance, you might expect this to be a brick house
0:34:03 > 0:34:05that's been rendered, been pebble-dashed.
0:34:05 > 0:34:10But, no. Much older style of construction with a timber frame and
0:34:10 > 0:34:12this adobe wall, as you can see,
0:34:12 > 0:34:14sort of falling to pieces, this mud wall.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18Now that puts this back in the 15th or 16th century
0:34:18 > 0:34:19in terms of construction.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22There's not a lot of stone in Norfolk so this was
0:34:22 > 0:34:25the kind of typical construction of that era for this part of the world.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31Over the centuries, Old Manor had been altered and added to.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36And inside the house there was a curiosity -
0:34:36 > 0:34:38a stained glass window that looked as though
0:34:38 > 0:34:40it belonged to a religious building.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44To me, this is kind of an incredible survival
0:34:44 > 0:34:48and something really, really precious and beautiful.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50But the mystery was how
0:34:50 > 0:34:53this beautiful piece of stained glass ended up here.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03The restoration of Old Manor got under way in the summer of 2011.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09The first job was to remove the old roof tiles so they could
0:35:09 > 0:35:10inspect the timbers.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16It meant erecting scaffolding over the whole house.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23With Polly's dream family home shrouded in weatherproofing,
0:35:23 > 0:35:25I paid my first visit.
0:35:25 > 0:35:30We've got to get the plastic over to take the roof off.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33We've got to get the plastic over to get the rendering off.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35So the scaffolding being up is the real kick-off point.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38This is where it actually really begins.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41But there was no actual restoration possible yet.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46'Polly was still at the stage of investigating what might be
0:35:46 > 0:35:48'wrong with the place she'd bought.'
0:35:48 > 0:35:51This is a massive undertaking for you
0:35:51 > 0:35:53cos you could buy land. You could come home to Norfolk,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56buy land and a nice simple house that you could do quite quickly
0:35:56 > 0:36:00but you've decided to plough all your energy into this because...?
0:36:00 > 0:36:02This house just called to me.
0:36:02 > 0:36:07I must have looked at about 2-300 houses easily when I came down.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09I just don't know. I just saw it and I wanted it.
0:36:09 > 0:36:10And I saw it and I fell in love with it
0:36:10 > 0:36:14and I thought, "This is the house that I want to make home."
0:36:16 > 0:36:19'Originally, Polly thought the total cost of the restoration would
0:36:19 > 0:36:23'be between £200,000 and £300,000.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26'But as the builders started to assess the extent of the work
0:36:26 > 0:36:29'that would be needed, she had to think again.'
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Did you pay £400,000 for the house?
0:36:32 > 0:36:35- For the house.- For the house and the plot of land it sits in.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38- Yes.- And what's your budget, Polly?
0:36:38 > 0:36:39I shan't be cutting my throat
0:36:39 > 0:36:42if I have to pay the purchase price over again.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46- OK.- But at the moment it'll cost what it costs.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50I have money set aside and fortunately I also have a job which
0:36:50 > 0:36:55will pay me sufficient to be able to carry on putting money aside.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58I'm glad that you are looking at it in those terms
0:36:58 > 0:37:01because I think it is going to take a lot of money
0:37:01 > 0:37:06because it's very detailed, very beautiful, complex.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08It's fragile.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15Historian Kate Williams wanted to find out when Old Manor
0:37:15 > 0:37:17might have been built.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23At the Norfolk archives, in an antiquarian volume,
0:37:23 > 0:37:27she discovered that, in the Middle Ages, the land in Saham Toney that
0:37:27 > 0:37:30Old Manor stands on was called something different.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36This is a completely new name here, Page's Manor, and I think it's
0:37:36 > 0:37:40pretty interesting because Old Manor stands on Page's Lane, so it
0:37:40 > 0:37:44seems very much as if Page's Manor is the same place as the Old Manor.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50Looking at later documents, Kate learnt that by the 17th century
0:37:50 > 0:37:54the land had a house on it called Page's Place.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57But it's not clear when the name changed to Old Manor.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08Back at the restoration, the roof of the house had been stripped bare...
0:38:14 > 0:38:17..and the concrete render on the walls was being prised off to get
0:38:17 > 0:38:21a closer look at the timbers that had been suffocating behind it.
0:38:24 > 0:38:25It wasn't good news.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31The builders were finding more damage by deathwatch beetle,
0:38:31 > 0:38:33whose larvae eat their way through timber.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37That is what deathwatch beetle does.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39Basically turns wood into honeycomb.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41Just falls apart in your hands.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44That just chews through all the wood.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47Old Manor was now at its most vulnerable.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Stripped of its roof and walls, it was just the skeleton of
0:38:51 > 0:38:55the old Tudor house it had started its life as.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59Inside, though, there were puzzles to the building's history that
0:38:59 > 0:39:01Kieran wanted to solve.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03The beautiful stained glass windows
0:39:03 > 0:39:07were out of character in this old house.
0:39:07 > 0:39:08So how did they get there?
0:39:15 > 0:39:18Kieran went to meet stained glass expert David King
0:39:18 > 0:39:22at St Peter Mancroft Church in nearby Norwich.
0:39:24 > 0:39:29One of the main reasons, of course, we've come to talk to you about this
0:39:29 > 0:39:32is this picture, which is from the Old Manor, of what we
0:39:32 > 0:39:35always thought looked like a piece of medieval stained glass
0:39:35 > 0:39:37but had no idea where it might have come from.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40I think you have to go to the church where I think it comes from.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43- Oh, really? Right.- And that will give us some historical background,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46- which will help.- So you think you know the precise location
0:39:46 > 0:39:49- where this was taken?- I think I do. Yes. I've got a picture here,
0:39:49 > 0:39:51a black and white photograph of some of the window
0:39:51 > 0:39:56in Great Cressingham Church, which is not far from the Manor House.
0:39:56 > 0:40:01And I think that this panel here comes from that place there
0:40:01 > 0:40:03because this glass doesn't belong there.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06- Right.- And it's a different style.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10One thing you need to know about this is that it's inside out.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12It does happen that glass gets put inside out.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14So somebody just found it attractive,
0:40:14 > 0:40:16wanted to knock together a bit of a surround for it
0:40:16 > 0:40:19- and didn't think about which way it was facing?- Not quite. No.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22So when this was the other way round, it was a matching figure
0:40:22 > 0:40:25- to this one and they were stood facing each other.- I see.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28The two bishops, they stood facing each other
0:40:28 > 0:40:31and that's where I think it came from, that panel there.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40Great Cressingham Church is just a few miles east of Saham Toney.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42So was David correct?
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Could this be the place where Old Manor's stained glass
0:40:45 > 0:40:46originally comes from?
0:40:56 > 0:40:59It's so extraordinary, really, to stand here
0:40:59 > 0:41:03and be in front of the window that David King pointed us to.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07They're the six openings which once held six bishops
0:41:07 > 0:41:11and they still do but we can see that the third from the left
0:41:11 > 0:41:13opening contains a different kind of bishop.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15This is clearly a replacement
0:41:15 > 0:41:19and this is the very spot where Old Manor's bishop once was.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23And we know that because, just as David described to us, it mirrors
0:41:23 > 0:41:29precisely the form of the bishop on the opposing fourth opening.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33But the biggest mystery was how did the glass get
0:41:33 > 0:41:36from Cressingham Church to Old Manor?
0:41:41 > 0:41:45Back at the site, the contractors had uncovered a major problem.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49With all the concrete pebble dash removed, site manager Nick
0:41:49 > 0:41:52realised the whole building needed underpinning.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58The house was constructed onto,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01like, a compressed sand and flint base.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04It stood the test of time but, because we're pulling the house
0:42:04 > 0:42:09apart, we've now freed up a lot of timbers and walls which would enable
0:42:09 > 0:42:12it to move a little bit more than what it originally would have done.
0:42:14 > 0:42:19The underpinning was going to cost £30,000 and would mean move delays.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Until it was finished, the real work of restoration couldn't begin.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Polly, working flat out in her job as a solicitor,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34was counting the cost in time and money.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37I suppose I've spent about £100,000 so far
0:42:37 > 0:42:40and, to be honest, it doesn't look like a house any more.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43It's just like a chimney with a whole load of sticks around it.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46So it's not terribly impressive for the amount I've laid out.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49But you have to do the underpinning, you have to do
0:42:49 > 0:42:54the treatment of the wood but it does seem to be that it's costing
0:42:54 > 0:42:58a fortune and I've got nothing there to show for it but a skeleton house.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03My whole future is invested in the Norfolk house
0:43:03 > 0:43:06and it's just frustrating that it's going so incredibly slowly
0:43:06 > 0:43:08and it's costing so very much.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11You get a vision, you start working and then it starts hitting
0:43:11 > 0:43:15you in the pocket and it hurts a lot more than you think it's going to.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22In the new year, Old Manor was still waiting for
0:43:22 > 0:43:23a way out of its troubles.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30The house in Liverpool remained unsold and, with Erich retired,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33the main financial strain was falling on Polly.
0:43:34 > 0:43:41She's paying two mortgages, which are enormous,
0:43:41 > 0:43:45but she would never show it.
0:43:45 > 0:43:50- Even to you?- Not even to me, you know?- We do have arguments.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52You cannot marry a Frenchman and not have an argument with
0:43:52 > 0:44:00a Frenchman but, you know, we always find out the solution to everything.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02There's no going back now for you, as a family, is there?
0:44:02 > 0:44:05You've got to finish this house because you can't sell it.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09No, we have to finish it. We have to finish it and it will be finished.
0:44:09 > 0:44:13It looks bad but it's not that bad. It's not that bad, you know.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17- I've seen worse. You know, I've seen worse.- Have you, Erich?- Yes.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19Because I've seen a lot of houses
0:44:19 > 0:44:21and that one looks pretty frail to me.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26Come and see that. Come. Come.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29But where I saw frailty in the old beams,
0:44:29 > 0:44:31Erich saw something different.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Do you know, without the walls, without the roof,
0:44:35 > 0:44:39you can still see how beautiful it could look?
0:44:39 > 0:44:42Look at the top one. Doesn't it look like a boat?
0:44:42 > 0:44:44- It does look like a boat.- Look.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50They all need replacing but, you know, it's there.
0:44:50 > 0:44:54You've got the skeleton. Now you just have to put the skin on it.
0:44:54 > 0:44:55And that's it. And he walks.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01Erich and Polly's enthusiasm for this project had seen them
0:45:01 > 0:45:03overcome problem after problem.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08So it was difficult to believe that Old Manor could possibly have
0:45:08 > 0:45:10another set back in store.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16Two weeks after my visit, Polly's son Max discovered there'd been
0:45:16 > 0:45:18a break-in at the house.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23Someone, we're not sure who, has come in during the evening
0:45:23 > 0:45:25when no-one's here.
0:45:25 > 0:45:30They've put holes in the ceilings in pretty much each room.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39A whole wall supporting part of the solid oak staircase had been
0:45:39 > 0:45:41kicked in by vandals.
0:45:41 > 0:45:47There was a wall coming to here and this is now levitating.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51The whole floor here for the stairs is now not safe at all
0:45:51 > 0:45:53so if anyone stands on there it's broken.
0:45:56 > 0:46:02It's just the sheer mindless idiocy of people who come in with no
0:46:02 > 0:46:06intent other than to do damage which I can't understand and,
0:46:06 > 0:46:08having spoken to various people in the village,
0:46:08 > 0:46:10no-one else understands either.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15It makes us more determined than ever to get this house into
0:46:15 > 0:46:20a state where we can actually live in it and make it beautiful again.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27The police investigated, but to cap all their misfortune,
0:46:27 > 0:46:30with the Liverpool house still unsold,
0:46:30 > 0:46:32Polly had finally run out of money...
0:46:34 > 0:46:36..and all the building work was stopped.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Two months later, I came for my final visit.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49Still wrapped in scaffolding nine months after it went up,
0:46:49 > 0:46:52this fascinating old house was far from complete.
0:46:54 > 0:46:55How are you?
0:47:02 > 0:47:08Looking at it, nothing's changed really, has it?
0:47:08 > 0:47:09Not a lot.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12- You could have built a new house... - Yes.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15..for the amount of money and time you've put into this.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18You probably would have spent less and, well, you'd certainly
0:47:18 > 0:47:21be in by now if you'd built a new house, wouldn't you?
0:47:21 > 0:47:24- Oh, yes. Oh, yes.- But that's not what we set out to do.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26We set out to renovate an old building
0:47:26 > 0:47:29and to do our bit for the sort of evolution of it.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33It's better not to hurry it. We're only in our 50s.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35You know, we've got another 50 years to live.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38I don't think I've got another 50 years for the revisit
0:47:38 > 0:47:40though, Erich, so trot on!
0:47:40 > 0:47:41THEY LAUGH
0:47:43 > 0:47:48'Erich was as determined as Polly to see this massive project completed.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51'And as I saw the damage done from the break-in, for the first time,
0:47:51 > 0:47:55'I could see why they were both deeply affected by it.'
0:47:57 > 0:48:00They've actually done quite a lot of damage here.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02- How does it make you feel, Erich? - I'm very angry
0:48:02 > 0:48:08because it's like attacking the roots of a family, you know?
0:48:08 > 0:48:12It's an old house, it's got some history and it should be respected.
0:48:16 > 0:48:21'Polly's beloved panel room wasn't spared either.'
0:48:21 > 0:48:23I'm so sorry, Polly.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27- It's really a shame. I'm so sorry. - Well, life is like that.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29We'll still get it done and we'll spite them all.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32- So this is all new, isn't it? - Yes.- This underpinning.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34Yeah, that's the thousands
0:48:34 > 0:48:38and thousands of pounds' worth of underpinning.
0:48:38 > 0:48:39It doesn't look much, does it?
0:48:39 > 0:48:41It doesn't look much but it is holding the room up.
0:48:41 > 0:48:46It's one small victory, if you like, in a catalogue of half-victories.
0:48:46 > 0:48:47It's all good.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51I come in here when I want to recharge my batteries, if you like.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55How do you remain so upbeat
0:48:55 > 0:49:00when everything around you is literally collapsing?
0:49:00 > 0:49:03There is no point in getting down-hearted.
0:49:03 > 0:49:04I know. I know. I understand that.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06There is no point but, you know,
0:49:06 > 0:49:08I've been there myself and even though
0:49:08 > 0:49:12you know there's no point in getting, you still do get down-hearted.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15And you don't seem to be affected by it.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20Well, no, I suppose it may well be genetic.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24I'm a glass-three-quarters-full girl. Always have been, really.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29Old Manor was at its lowest ebb and it was going to need more
0:49:29 > 0:49:32than Polly's unshakeable enthusiasm to save it.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35What it needed was money. And lots of it.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47That was 12 months ago and, when the programme was first broadcast,
0:49:47 > 0:49:49it was a shock for one viewer.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53Ronnie Mareheart realised that her family had owned Old Manor
0:49:53 > 0:49:55150 years ago,
0:49:55 > 0:49:57and her hobby could help solve a mystery.
0:49:59 > 0:50:05I thought, "Well, William Grigson that lived there was a vicar,"
0:50:05 > 0:50:08and I knew he had something to do with Cressingham Church or
0:50:08 > 0:50:12one of his family had something to do with Cressingham Church.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16Ronnie's interested in genealogy and she's been researching her
0:50:16 > 0:50:18family tree in Norfolk.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23I've always lived in the past. I'm not a modern person.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26The past has always fascinated me. I liked history at school.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28I wasn't a lot of good at it but I loved it.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33Ronnie had traced her family, the Grigsons, back to Old Manor
0:50:33 > 0:50:37in the village of Saham Toney in the mid-19th century.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40In those days, the house was called Page's Place.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44The programme brought her research to life.
0:50:44 > 0:50:49Watching it, knowing in my mind that years ago our family lived there.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53There was a room with old panelling in.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56Well, you'd imagine that would have been there when they were there.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59And it's quite funny sitting there and visualising,
0:50:59 > 0:51:02although I've never seen a photograph or portrait or anything
0:51:02 > 0:51:07of these people, but visualising them in that sort of environment.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09It's really quite strange.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12Quite strange but nice to see where they used to live.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Watching the programme made Ronnie realise that she might be
0:51:17 > 0:51:20able to help solve the mystery of how a stained glass panel
0:51:20 > 0:51:24from Cressingham Church ended up in Old Manor.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27The Reverend William Grigson that bought Page's Place,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30his nephew was the curator of Cressingham Church
0:51:30 > 0:51:35so there was the connection with the church and the family.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39And I just assume that one of those had taken this stained glass
0:51:39 > 0:51:44window and, for some unknown reason, put it in the Manor House.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47Whether it had got slightly damaged and they had to take it out
0:51:47 > 0:51:50to repair it and he thought, "I quite like the look of that,"
0:51:50 > 0:51:51and maybe he paid
0:51:51 > 0:51:54to have a replacement put in that didn't match.
0:51:54 > 0:51:55I have no idea.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57I've no idea how it got there
0:51:57 > 0:51:59but they've had to come across it somehow.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05I can't imagine a vicar taking the window out of the church
0:52:05 > 0:52:07just to pinch it.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09But you never know.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15The stained glass window is now safely boarded up and protected.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17But what of its future?
0:52:18 > 0:52:21It's part of the house, really, now.
0:52:21 > 0:52:26It's something that happened a long, long time ago, whoever did it.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28No, I think it should stay where it is, really.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38It's now been 12 months since we last saw Old Manor
0:52:38 > 0:52:40and Kieran's come to see what's happened to this,
0:52:40 > 0:52:44our most troubled restoration from last year.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55- Hi, Polly.- Hi, Kieran.- How are you? - Lovely to see you. I'm fine.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57- Nice to see you. Are you well? - Yes, yes. Not bad.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00Good. I'm glad to hear it. Well, I mean, last time I was here there was
0:53:00 > 0:53:03a lot of scaffolding around and there still is.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06I mean, why haven't you been able to move on more?
0:53:06 > 0:53:09- Well, it's mostly financial. We basically ran out of money.- Right.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13The mortgage crisis hit us like a brick
0:53:13 > 0:53:18and the mortgage lenders all changed their lending policies.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20The key to this project was Polly being able to sell their
0:53:20 > 0:53:25Liverpool house and use the proceeds to continue the restoration.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29Unfortunately, with the recession, that hasn't happened and over
0:53:29 > 0:53:34the last winter the storms and gales have taken their toll on Old Manor.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43Inside, nothing has changed.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46Wow. Well, I feel like we shouldn't be still walking through walls.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49You know, that's not a good sign.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52In fact, all worked stopped here 12 months ago.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00I mean, it is still the scene of some devastation in here,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03I have to say, but what keeps you motivated?
0:54:03 > 0:54:07Because many people would give up at a stage like this.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Well, basically, I mean, she's my Miss Havisham, isn't she?
0:54:10 > 0:54:15She's damaged and broken and but beautiful
0:54:15 > 0:54:19and I've made it the state it's in at the moment
0:54:19 > 0:54:24so it's my responsibility to put her back where she should be.
0:54:24 > 0:54:25Many viewers sympathised
0:54:25 > 0:54:28with Polly's great expectations for Old Manor.
0:54:30 > 0:54:35We've had so many people come and visit, who saw the first programme.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38I think we had 50-odd people turn up at the gate and every single
0:54:38 > 0:54:40one of them has said, "If I win the lottery, Polly,
0:54:40 > 0:54:42"I'll give you the money,"
0:54:42 > 0:54:44so I'm just waiting for one of them to win the lottery, really.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47- You're so positive, Polly. - I'm sickening, I know.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51Well, for me, it's just so difficult because it's such a beautiful room.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54You can see the potential but it's a kind of tragedy that it
0:54:54 > 0:54:57hasn't yet become the room you want it to be.
0:54:57 > 0:55:01Well, I wouldn't say tragedy. Yes, it's just on hold, isn't it?
0:55:01 > 0:55:02It's stasis.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05I mean, there's not much I can do to make it happen any faster
0:55:05 > 0:55:08so there's no point in being down-hearted about it.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11I'll just get the money and it will get fixed.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15So far, there have been no lottery winners.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17But Old Manor has suffered another break-in.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22The vandals smashed up more of the house including some of the windows.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27Since then, Erich has moved into a caravan on site
0:55:27 > 0:55:29and now lives there permanently.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31- Hi, Erich.- Hello, Kieran.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34In his youth, he was in the French Foreign Legion.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37They haven't had any trouble since.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39- It is a beautiful place. - And this is your home now.
0:55:39 > 0:55:44This is the home and I've been here now a year. I have here all I need.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49Life in the caravan is cramped but outside there is plenty of space.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54And Erich keeps a collection of chickens, ducks and turkeys.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03Do you think it's harder for you, in a way, having to see the house
0:56:03 > 0:56:06every day and see the lack of progress?
0:56:06 > 0:56:09No, it isn't because I know that, you know, we've been
0:56:09 > 0:56:12together for 30 years, I know that if she has the dream and
0:56:12 > 0:56:18she wants to complete her part of the deal, you know, it will be done.
0:56:18 > 0:56:24My bit is an easy bit. I'm retired. I do whatever I want during the day.
0:56:24 > 0:56:25I've got my animals.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29I've got my Bijou and Polly is back home every weekend.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31I've never been so happy in my life.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36This project would have defeated many people,
0:56:36 > 0:56:38but not Polly and Erich.
0:56:40 > 0:56:45Despite all setbacks, they are still in love with Old Manor.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49Look at that. Wow. This is amazing.
0:56:49 > 0:56:51HE LAUGHS
0:56:51 > 0:56:55Thank you. This is fabulous, isn't it?
0:56:55 > 0:56:57That's my boat. That's my quay.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00It's magnificent. I mean, when you get up into these timbers
0:57:00 > 0:57:04you can just remember what's so special about this house, don't you?
0:57:04 > 0:57:07Yeah, you do. I mean, you can see here the evolution of the building.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10- And that means a lot to you. - Oh, enormous amounts. Yes.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13I mean, we're putting our bit, if you like, into the evolution
0:57:13 > 0:57:15of the building and moving it on to the 21st century.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18I mean, I've got to put in bathrooms and a kitchen
0:57:18 > 0:57:21and stuff like that to make it so that you can actually live in it
0:57:21 > 0:57:24rather than just have it as being some kind of a monument.
0:57:24 > 0:57:25It's got to be a working home.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27- Cos that's what it's been throughout the ages.- Yeah.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30I mean, three months to make it watertight, another
0:57:30 > 0:57:32I don't know, six, something like that, to get it to some standard.
0:57:32 > 0:57:38I mean, Erich, you must be dreaming about the start of that journey.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41Well, I like to see the scaffolding gone, you know,
0:57:41 > 0:57:44because I know that when the scaffold is gone,
0:57:44 > 0:57:47the house is standing and is safe and secure.
0:57:49 > 0:57:53I know it looks absolutely terrible and it is absolutely terrible.
0:57:53 > 0:57:58I know. But it isn't as bad, in terms of work, as it looks.
0:58:00 > 0:58:02Polly's vision is as strong as ever.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08It's brought her a long way on this project
0:58:08 > 0:58:10but will it be enough to see it through?
0:58:15 > 0:58:19We'll get it done but it will take a bit longer than we had wanted.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22And we may be in the caravan for a few more months yet.