0:00:02 > 0:00:06Historic houses both humble and ground
0:00:06 > 0:00:09have all played their part in the story of our nation
0:00:09 > 0:00:12but today, many are at risk
0:00:12 > 0:00:15and some in danger of being lost forever.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18I am going to be following the fortunes of six properties
0:00:18 > 0:00:22all facing their own struggle for survival.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Look you can see the round.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33It is like walking into a kind of Tudor fantasy.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35This is not quite what I was expecting.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39And they all have new owners
0:00:39 > 0:00:43committed to turning them into their dream home.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45It like a little old lady waiting for her facelift.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47We are coming in to make her better.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51I never ever thought that I would do a project like this in my life before.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57I have spent years restoring derelict old properties
0:00:57 > 0:00:59and having poured everything into trying to create
0:00:59 > 0:01:03my perfect family home I know what a challenge it is
0:01:03 > 0:01:06to rescue a precious old building.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11There is a lot riding on it and it is scary times.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14We love it and we want to finish it but sometimes it just feels like too much.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19It's Restoration Home.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Standing in the shadow of this magnificent building,
0:01:32 > 0:01:36it will come as no surprise that I am in Scotland.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39And if you are passionate about saving a piece of heritage
0:01:39 > 0:01:42in this part of the world, this is the sort of thing
0:01:42 > 0:01:46you would probably be looking for something rugged and imposing,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50something that dominates the entire landscape.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53But that is not for everyone.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55We have found a couple of Scottish bravehearts
0:01:55 > 0:01:59who are committed to saving a very different sort of building,
0:01:59 > 0:02:04a house that, despite nestling in this amazing Scottish countryside,
0:02:04 > 0:02:07is quintessentially English.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11It is built in the most perfect styles, the Arts and Crafts,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15but is a it is a long time since this poor house
0:02:15 > 0:02:17has seen anything like perfection.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28This is Sandford House in Newport-on-Tay, Fife,
0:02:28 > 0:02:30one of only two houses in Scotland
0:02:30 > 0:02:34designed by the Arts and Crafts architect Baillie Scott.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Dating back to 1902, it was built as a family home,
0:02:41 > 0:02:46but it's spent nearly half its life as a three-star hotel.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Now, abandoned as a business for years,
0:02:50 > 0:02:56the place has fallen into serious disrepair and decay.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Sandford House is a Category B historic property,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05the second-highest listing for buildings at risk in Scotland.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10What it needs is new owners with determination,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14deep pockets and a lot of love to give.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Meet Ralph Webster and Evelyn Hardie,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24the couple who plan to restore Sandford House
0:03:24 > 0:03:27and make it their home.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Ralph and Evelyn met and fell for each other 16 years ago,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35when Evelyn was selling her car.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38I put it in the paper to advertise it for sale
0:03:38 > 0:03:41and Ralph came down to visit with a friend of his
0:03:41 > 0:03:43who was wanting to buy a car and they bought the car
0:03:43 > 0:03:45and then a couple of weeks later I got a phone call
0:03:45 > 0:03:49and I thought "Oh, no, there's something gone wrong with this car,"
0:03:49 > 0:03:52but he was actually phoning to ask me out, so the rest is history.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Yeah, exactly.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00They paid £560,000 to buy Sandford House,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03a building they've known for years.
0:04:03 > 0:04:04I felt sorry for it
0:04:04 > 0:04:08because it was our local pub and we used to come up
0:04:08 > 0:04:1110, 12 of us and just completely fill the place and it was fantastic.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13and it just sort of went downhill you know
0:04:13 > 0:04:17and it just is such a shame that it hadn't been maintained
0:04:17 > 0:04:19to a high standard over the years.
0:04:19 > 0:04:24Ralph is 59, and works at sea as a marine consultant.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29Evelyn ten years younger - has her own graphic design company.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Both keen DIY-ers,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35they leapt at the chance of tackling a full-scale restoration.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40I just thought it was amazing, it's an amazing building.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44I mean it was a mess and it needed an awful lot of work done to it,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47you could see right away how you could turn it into something absolutely fantastic.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Part of the house is built into a rocky cliff
0:04:52 > 0:04:54creating a sunken lounge
0:04:54 > 0:04:58with a spectacular bay window on the south side of the building.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03This'll be an amazing room when it's all finished,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06it'll be a sort of formal lounge, I suppose, really.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12One of the most interesting things of all are these swans.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16The window fasteners have got swans on them.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23You can see how damp it is in here just now, look at the condensation on the inside of the windows,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26we need to get some heating into the place, basically.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31All the rooms on the ground floor we want to sort of try and get them liveable so we can actually move in.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35Because they've bought a Category B listed building,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38Ralph and Evelyn have a responsibility to safeguard
0:05:38 > 0:05:43the special architectural character of their Arts and Crafts house.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46At the time of purchase, they had to submit
0:05:46 > 0:05:50their detailed restoration plans to the local council
0:05:50 > 0:05:53and the statutory heritage body, Historic Scotland.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56They've been given listed building consent
0:05:56 > 0:05:58for the work they want to do.
0:06:02 > 0:06:03Over a year and a half,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07they plan to restore the rooms in the main wing of the house,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09which will be their home...
0:06:10 > 0:06:15...the sunken lounge, living room and kitchen on the ground floor
0:06:15 > 0:06:20and three bedrooms and two attic rooms above.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23Behind, a central courtyard is surrounded
0:06:23 > 0:06:25by two other wings which once housed
0:06:25 > 0:06:28the kitchen and bedrooms of the hotel.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Ralph and Evelyn plan to convert this part
0:06:31 > 0:06:33to provide extra income.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39The intent is to have four, four holiday homes, two storey here,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41two storey in the middle and two flats
0:06:41 > 0:06:44and the income from that will help do the, you know,
0:06:44 > 0:06:46the repairs over the years.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51Sandford House also came with four-and-a-half acres of land,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55some of which they plan to sell to help fund the restoration.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02In October 2010,
0:07:02 > 0:07:08Ralph and Evelyn started their dream restoration in earnest.
0:07:10 > 0:07:11It's a challenge,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14it really is, it's a serious challenge.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16If you actually come in here
0:07:16 > 0:07:18and achieve something at the end of the day
0:07:18 > 0:07:20and you actually get this house
0:07:20 > 0:07:25back to looking like an Arts and Crafts house that'll be amazing.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28And because there are only two of them in Scotland,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30you know, to actually repair this one properly,
0:07:30 > 0:07:35there are things we won't be able to do in our lifetime...
0:07:35 > 0:07:38but it'll go on and someone'll do it in the future, hopefully.
0:07:39 > 0:07:45They've set themselves a restoration budget of £530,000 -
0:07:45 > 0:07:51£270,000 to restore the original house as their home
0:07:51 > 0:07:57and another £260,000 to convert part of the building into holiday homes.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00And that's where they're camping out
0:08:00 > 0:08:02until the main house is ready to move into.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07They'll be doing a lot of the basic work themselves,
0:08:07 > 0:08:09with a small group of skilled craftsmen
0:08:09 > 0:08:11they can call on as and when required.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17They're all local lads and they all know each other and they know me
0:08:17 > 0:08:20and they know we want a good job done, so, you know,
0:08:20 > 0:08:22we all sort of club together and get on with it.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25As far as the physical work's concerned,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28try and keep the costs down and if a wall's got to come down
0:08:28 > 0:08:31I'll just get a chisel out and knock it down.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33You just get at it.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Ralph can spend up to a month at a time away.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45But he uses every spare moment on the restoration,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47sandblasting away the black paint
0:08:47 > 0:08:51that covered most of the building's oak woodwork when it was a hotel.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55We've also sandblasted the beams,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57oak beams and all the window frames,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01the window frames are more difficult because we had to mask them all off
0:09:01 > 0:09:03and then sandblast them and varnish them.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Come and see what I have found under here.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14That's brilliant. Look at that.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21- Why do people cover these up? - Common. Slabs.
0:09:23 > 0:09:24Stone underneath here.
0:09:24 > 0:09:30'As they start to bring their early 20th century building back to life,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33'Ralph and Evelyn see themselves as custodians of Sandford House
0:09:33 > 0:09:36'for generations to come.'
0:09:37 > 0:09:42It would be nice to find out how the interior of the house would have looked in those days.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Once you've got the history you can add us on to it
0:09:45 > 0:09:47then it can be passed on to future owners
0:09:47 > 0:09:49otherwise the history is lost.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51I mean we've searched but there's a few dead ends
0:09:51 > 0:09:54that I'm sure you're going to manage to help us, you know,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57get a wee bit further down the road than we have.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03'As the restoration begins, so does our historical investigation.'
0:10:05 > 0:10:06Historian Dr Kate Williams
0:10:06 > 0:10:09will scour the archives for information
0:10:09 > 0:10:12about the first owner of Sandford House.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Our architectural expert, Kieran Long,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19starts his investigation at the house itself.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27This is a building from a moment in British architecture which was just so important.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29The Arts and Crafts style was something
0:10:29 > 0:10:32that celebrated the work of the craftsman and you have to remember
0:10:32 > 0:10:35this was at a period towards the end of the 19th century
0:10:35 > 0:10:39when the Victorian era had brought, you know, so much mechanisation and industrial production
0:10:39 > 0:10:43and there were a group of people who stood back and said, "No, this isn't what we want,
0:10:43 > 0:10:47"we need to feel the hand of the craftsman on the material."
0:10:49 > 0:10:51So many of the houses of this period,
0:10:51 > 0:10:52of the Arts and Crafts style,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55they fell out of fashion quite quickly in the early 20th century.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Some of them have been lost, some of them have not been restored
0:10:58 > 0:11:00and this is an amazing survival, to me,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03that looks ripe for bringing back to its former glory.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07The Arts and Crafts style flourished in the decades
0:11:07 > 0:11:10leading up to the First World War.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Its rebellion against industrial mass production
0:11:15 > 0:11:18often harked back to a vision of England in the Middle Ages.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27This is a nice little cosy moment we have here
0:11:27 > 0:11:32of different kind of levels of building different rooms interconnecting.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36What is, you know, not a particularly fine or grand little staircase
0:11:36 > 0:11:38but it does bring some of that higgledy-piggledy
0:11:38 > 0:11:41kind of medieval atmosphere to the place.
0:11:45 > 0:11:50The living room reflects the same homely, handcrafted style.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54You have this incredibly characteristic inglenook fireplace here
0:11:54 > 0:11:57which is absolutely something redolent of the Arts and Crafts,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00this beautiful brickwork
0:12:00 > 0:12:03with thin, thin mortar joints,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06carefully, but unfussily, made.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16The origins of the Arts and Crafts movement were over 400 miles away
0:12:16 > 0:12:19from Ralph and Evelyn's house in Scotland,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22beside the River Thames in West London.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29This was the home of William Morris, who was the godfather,
0:12:29 > 0:12:31intellectually and creatively,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34of the whole of the Arts and Crafts movement.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38This place we are in now was a coaching house,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41which Morris filled with looms
0:12:41 > 0:12:43and people were knotting carpet
0:12:43 > 0:12:47and making things in the basement. There was a press.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50All of those different kinds of industries,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54some of which he was reviving and inventing, happened here.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58William Morris's back-to-nature cottage industry designs
0:12:58 > 0:13:02predated Ralph and Evelyn's Arts and Crafts house by 40 years.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06The experiments that Morris was carrying out here with his press,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09with his wallpapers, with his textiles,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12things that were being made here, lead to a kind of mature style
0:13:12 > 0:13:16that Sandford House displays in its architecture and would certainly
0:13:16 > 0:13:20have displayed in its fittings and textiles and furniture and so on.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Just along the river from William Morris's house,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29you can get a real sense of how his style influenced
0:13:29 > 0:13:31the interior of an Arts and Crafts home.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38This is where Morris's friend Emery Walker lived and these rooms
0:13:38 > 0:13:42are almost exactly as he left them when he died nearly 80 years ago.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46It's like a kind of time-capsule here.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50It's like walking into an interior that hasn't changed since the '30s.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54And was, of course, conceived much earlier so it's as if
0:13:54 > 0:13:57we're in the a late-Victorian, early 20th century drawing room.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Early 20th century photographs of the sunken lounge
0:14:04 > 0:14:07at Sandford House show how the rooms were once furnished.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16Today the original furniture is long gone and Ralph and Evelyn
0:14:16 > 0:14:22have begun to restore the surviving Arts and Crafts decor.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25It's kind of a quite rough, almost naive style.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27It has that air of the medieval about it.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30Certainly the air of something hand-made.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36But the building's 48 years as a three-star hotel
0:14:36 > 0:14:39does have a very visible legacy.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45There is nothing that messes up a beautifully composed facade
0:14:45 > 0:14:48more than a pipe full of human waste, you know,
0:14:48 > 0:14:50coming out of a bathroom somewhere.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53It's just an absolute disgrace that this facade has been
0:14:53 > 0:14:56disfigured by this and sometimes it slides into the background
0:14:56 > 0:15:00but my first thought on seeing these things is, "Honestly! That pipe!"
0:15:00 > 0:15:03And we have another example just up here too, of a,
0:15:03 > 0:15:08of an extractor fan, you know, in where a tiny little window
0:15:08 > 0:15:10would probably light something picturesque behind it
0:15:10 > 0:15:12and they thought, "We'll get rid of that."
0:15:12 > 0:15:14Put an extractor fan in at some point.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18This is really, really clumsy treatment of a beautiful building.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Kieran works out that the small window originally
0:15:21 > 0:15:27would have cast extra light on the inglenook fireplace in the lounge.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29Once they take that out, it's going to be so great.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33This tiny little window would bring such effect to this beautiful
0:15:33 > 0:15:35fireplace because it would light it indirectly.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37You won't see where the light's coming from.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41You'll just get a warm glow from one side of this hearth-like range.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44You know, it's so typical Arts and Crafts,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46that dramatisation of something very homely.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Seeing the house has whetted Kieran's appetite
0:15:50 > 0:15:55for the work of Arts and Crafts architect, Baillie Scott.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Not one of the big names of early 20th century
0:15:58 > 0:16:00and late 19th century architecture and so for me,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03we need to discover a lot more about this man.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12'Ralph and Evelyn have been getting stuck into the renovation
0:16:12 > 0:16:17'for over six months and I'm paying them my first visit.'
0:16:17 > 0:16:21- Hello. I'm Caroline.- Hello. Nice to meet you.- Evelyn.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23'I learned from my own restoration experience,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26'those early stages of scraping, sand blasting and demolition
0:16:26 > 0:16:29'are often the hardest.'
0:16:29 > 0:16:33- Are you still in love with it? - Definitely. 100%.- Oh, yeah.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35- Even more so as time goes on. - Really?- I think so.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37The more you are here, you know,
0:16:37 > 0:16:42- the more you get sort of attached to it, I suppose.- Sucked in.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47What was the Hotel's main entrance of the courtyard
0:16:47 > 0:16:51will become Ralph and Evelyn's front door.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56It will be the way into the main wing of their home,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59where work is under way on the sunken lounge and the living room.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05- OK, Caroline. This is the hall, here.- Yes.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09- And through here we have got the public bar.- The public bar.- Yes.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14'What's going to be their living room used to be the hotel bar.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18'And where beers and cocktails were once served,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21'the Arts and Crafts inglenook fireplace has now been revealed.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27'Ralph has known this room since he was a teenager.'
0:17:27 > 0:17:30We all came up, 14 of us came up together
0:17:30 > 0:17:32and just grew up and did a bit of courting, et cetera.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35SHE LAUGHS Long before you were on the scene.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37So this would be the place you bring a hot date to?
0:17:37 > 0:17:41"I want to impress her, I'll take her up to the house!"
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Unless we didn't want the locals to know about her
0:17:43 > 0:17:45and then we wouldn't come here.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47But once everything got going,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50you can introduce her to the rest of the kin, as it were.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52THEY LAUGH
0:17:53 > 0:17:57It's not just inside the house that they've uncovered clues
0:17:57 > 0:17:59to how it looked in the past.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03At the bottom of the cliff below the sunken lounge is a pond.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09It was about 15ft of ivy out from the edge and I had to climb up
0:18:09 > 0:18:11and down the rock face, removing it.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14You couldn't even see the rock face.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18We are a bit concerned about the pond because it's been fed by the urinals from the men's.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23The gents. The plastic pipe went straight out and in the pond.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30'I continue my tour of the ground-floor rooms.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35'Next door to the main wing, Ralph and Evelyn are planning
0:18:35 > 0:18:39'to reclaim the hotel's old kitchen area as part of their home.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43'Hardly changed since the hotel ceased trading in 2007,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46'these fixtures and fittings
0:18:46 > 0:18:50'couldn't be further from Arts and Crafts.'
0:18:50 > 0:18:53When we bought it, it had at least an inch and a half of...
0:18:53 > 0:18:56- This is where the grease was all over.- Grease and dead mice.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59This is a hotel kitchen, basically.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01And what is this going to be for you?
0:19:01 > 0:19:04We're going to put a dividing wall up here.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06This will be your utility room.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Utility room will be that side and from that side to there,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13it will be a sort of workshop type toy room for Ralph.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17- Extension to the garage.- You've really got it made, haven't you?
0:19:20 > 0:19:22And then we move into this part of the house
0:19:22 > 0:19:26and there is clearly loads still to do here.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29- Daunted?- No, not at all. - No?- No, no. No, no.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35'Today, one of the ugliest relics of the hotel,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38the industrial-sized extractor unit,
0:19:38 > 0:19:42is going to meet its fate, with the help of Ralph's friend, Dave.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44You look really happy. What are you doing?
0:19:44 > 0:19:48We are going to destroy this vent later. Dying to get rid of it.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50- It's time to get rid of it?- Yes.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54- I just hope it doesn't go through the kitchen window.- Yeah. Let's hope not.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56But it's a bit too narrow to put scaffolding up
0:19:56 > 0:19:58so we will just give it a go, if that's all right.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Yeah, give it a yank.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Are you OK?
0:20:08 > 0:20:10They're so keen to get rid of the thing
0:20:10 > 0:20:13they are being a bit gung-ho with this rapid demolition.
0:20:16 > 0:20:17Perfect.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Right, ready?
0:20:24 > 0:20:25Ooh.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29Dave? What do you think about Ralph taking on this project?
0:20:29 > 0:20:34- I think it's very brave. Very brave indeed.- Do you?
0:20:34 > 0:20:37- Because you've known this building a long time, haven't you?- I have, yes.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39I used to come up here for drinks every so often.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41Did you? Have you been mates since you were young?
0:20:41 > 0:20:45- Yes, since we were teenagers, I would say.- Ah.- Yes, uh-huh.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47We were in the Boy Scouts and suchlike.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49- Were you really in Boy Scouts together?- Sadly, yes.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54- How long do you think it'll take them till they're finished? - SHE LAUGHS
0:20:54 > 0:20:58Known as the Sandford Hill Hotel in the mid-1960s,
0:20:58 > 0:21:03this original menu shows the type of meals being produced in the old kitchen.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08Sole mornay followed by roast duckling in orange sauce
0:21:08 > 0:21:10and coupe Singapore.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Guests would enjoy these culinary delights
0:21:13 > 0:21:15in the dining room next door,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18a room Ralph and Evelyn are in the process of transforming.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21So this is going to be your lovely, lovely kitchen?
0:21:21 > 0:21:22This is going to be our kitchen.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26This is where you'll be cooking and eating, or just cooking?
0:21:26 > 0:21:29This part will be the dining room - well, the dining area -
0:21:29 > 0:21:32so there'll be a table and chairs here and there's going to be...
0:21:32 > 0:21:34We've still to knock a hole in the wall there
0:21:34 > 0:21:37because there's going to be a door out into the garden there,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40and the other side, that'll be the kitchen.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43We've got a great big island unit that goes all the way out here.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49Is it important for you to get the detail right?
0:21:49 > 0:21:51To get the design of the house right,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54to get everything right here?
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Yeah, the intention is to get it as correct as we can, you know,
0:21:57 > 0:22:01basically regardless of cost. I mean, there is a limited budget, obviously,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04and we're probably way over it already, but you know...
0:22:04 > 0:22:08Yeah, if we're going to repair something, we might as well do it properly.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12And is that, is that for your sense of achievement
0:22:12 > 0:22:15or is it something you feel you owe the building?
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Yeah, the building deserves it. The building really deserves it.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21As I say, it was abandoned for three-and-a-half years
0:22:21 > 0:22:24and the state it was in then, you know?
0:22:24 > 0:22:29And we intend just to return it to a liveable home
0:22:29 > 0:22:31with a bit of history to it.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Historian Kate is on the trail of the first owner of Sandford house.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51To learn who commissioned Evelyn and Ralph's Arts and Crafts home in 1902,
0:22:51 > 0:22:55she's come to Dundee, three miles away across the River Tay.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01At the start of the 20th century,
0:23:01 > 0:23:03this Scottish waterside city was booming.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Dundee in the Victorian era was incredibly wealthy.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12It was a big, bustling metropolis
0:23:12 > 0:23:14and a really important industrial area.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20The money that built Sandford house came from a thriving new industry:
0:23:20 > 0:23:22photography.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25And this is the man whose money it was -
0:23:25 > 0:23:27Harben Valentine.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32His family firm were photographers by appointment to Queen Victoria.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35The Valentines were pioneers of commercial photography
0:23:35 > 0:23:40and one of the first companies to market the picture postcard.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44I've got a marvellous one here of New Zealand.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46Very few Victorians could ever get to New Zealand,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49but they could still look at the photos.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53And what's also marvellous is I've got this picture here
0:23:53 > 0:23:56of Queen Victoria, because the Valentines became
0:23:56 > 0:23:58the photographer to the Queen.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05The Valentines' standing grew further in 1879.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Their photographs were used by the official enquiry
0:24:08 > 0:24:11into the Tay Bridge disaster.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16Over 70 lives were lost when the bridge collapsed in a winter storm
0:24:16 > 0:24:20and a passing passenger train plunged into the waters below.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25The fact they were entrusted with this key part of the enquiry,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28of taking the photos, shows how important that family had become.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Their photographs became crucial to the memory
0:24:31 > 0:24:34of so many people in Dundee. They were iconic,
0:24:34 > 0:24:38and they were the images of the Tay Bridge that people never forgot.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Harben Valentine and his family
0:24:42 > 0:24:45lived at Sandford house until the 1930s.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50By then, he'd turned his photographic company
0:24:50 > 0:24:54into a worldwide business with offices on four continents.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59Morag Henderson is Harben Valentine's grand-daughter.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01It was a good part of the country for him
0:25:01 > 0:25:04because he could commute to Dundee
0:25:04 > 0:25:07either by train or on the old ferryboat,
0:25:07 > 0:25:12which was called the Fifey, and there he raised the family.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15I remember the window latches with the black swans,
0:25:15 > 0:25:20which my grandfather said was an old Valentine tradition.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25He was jolly, very good at entertaining children.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28I remember him at the end of every lunch,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31getting out the monkey finger puppet and playing with it.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37I sit opposite him when I have my breakfast, where you're sitting,
0:25:37 > 0:25:42and if you stare really long at him, he occasionally just smiles.
0:25:45 > 0:25:50Morag is delighted her grandfather's house might now be saved.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54There just have been too many houses in Scotland that have crumbled away
0:25:54 > 0:25:58since the war, been demolished or let go into ruin,
0:25:58 > 0:26:03that I think that the fact that Sandford is being restored is great.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07To bring Harben Valentine's home back to life,
0:26:07 > 0:26:13Ralph and Evelyn started out with a budget of £270,000.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16But one element of the building's Arts and Crafts design
0:26:16 > 0:26:18is starting to eat money.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31Evelyn and Ralph's house has over 700 small pains
0:26:31 > 0:26:34of leaded glass on the main facade alone.
0:26:37 > 0:26:43There are another 540 in the tall bay window in the sunken lounge.
0:26:43 > 0:26:49The whole building has thousands of panes of glass set in lead.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53They're one of the biggest restoration challenges of all.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55If the lead gets cracked in the joins
0:26:55 > 0:27:00it's very difficult to repair them and make them watertight again.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02If one has gone and there's quite a few cracks in it
0:27:02 > 0:27:04and also a broken bit of glass or whatever,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08we've ended up just replacing the whole thing
0:27:08 > 0:27:10because it is actually easier and it looks better
0:27:10 > 0:27:12and, at the end of the day,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14should last longer than if it was just repaired.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Evelyn and Ralph budgeted just £10,000 for windows
0:27:21 > 0:27:25but they've already spent double that, and the figure's rising.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32They've been relying on the expert work of specialist restorer,
0:27:32 > 0:27:37Liz Rowley, who is familiar with the problems of ageing leaded glass.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41The windows in Sandford House are about 100 years old,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43but quite a lot of them were openable windows.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Opening windows are the kind of leadwork
0:27:46 > 0:27:48that goes first in a building.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54Crucial to the strength of the leaded window are rigid metal bars
0:27:54 > 0:27:57tied to the lead to provide extra support.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02But, repeated opening of the window eventually takes its toll.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04First thing that happens
0:28:04 > 0:28:07is that the ties start to come loose from the bars.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Then, the window starts to rattle against the bars
0:28:10 > 0:28:12as it's opened and closed.
0:28:12 > 0:28:18Also, the lead joints start to tear, where the ties are attached
0:28:18 > 0:28:22and that combination starts to weaken the whole structure of the window.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27We've releaded all the opening windows in Sandford House.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Restoring the windows involves a combination of skills and materials
0:28:35 > 0:28:40that would have been celebrated by the Arts and Crafts movement.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43This square of glass is called a quarry
0:28:43 > 0:28:47and there are equal numbers of quarries running up this window
0:28:47 > 0:28:51and I'm going to just slot them into the groove in the lead,
0:28:51 > 0:28:53it's like a letter H,
0:28:53 > 0:28:59and the glass slots into the groove along the edge of the lead.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04I need to make sure that all these horizontal leads are the same size,
0:29:04 > 0:29:08or else my window will start to get distorted.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14The process of sealing the lead joints
0:29:14 > 0:29:18involves the use of tallow, a rendered animal fat
0:29:18 > 0:29:21traditionally used in the making of candles and soap.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27The tallow allows Liz to create what's known as a flux.
0:29:29 > 0:29:36Flux allows the solder to flow over the joint,
0:29:36 > 0:29:37and it's a greasing material
0:29:37 > 0:29:40and it melts with the heat of the soldering iron
0:29:40 > 0:29:44and creates a surface tension that pulls the solder along.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52Back at Sandford House, Liz ties the finished lead panels
0:29:52 > 0:29:53to their supporting bars.
0:29:55 > 0:29:56Restoring the windows might be costing
0:29:56 > 0:29:59a lot more than they bargained for,
0:29:59 > 0:30:03but Ralph and Evelyn want to do it for the sake of the building.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08If you've got an Arts and Crafts house, it would be sacrilege,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11I suppose, to replace that with a modern, double glazed unit.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14You wouldn't even consider doing that. It would look terrible.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22Architectural expert, Kieran, is learning more
0:30:22 > 0:30:24about the Arts and Crafts architect
0:30:24 > 0:30:27who designed Ralph and Evelyn's building -
0:30:27 > 0:30:28Mackay Baillie Scott.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32With the kind of elements that we see at Sandford House that seem
0:30:32 > 0:30:35so characteristic of his work, the inglenook fireplace,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38the windows, the great pitched roofs and so on, what did they mean to him?
0:30:38 > 0:30:40What was he trying to achieve?
0:30:42 > 0:30:46Born in 1865, when the Arts and Crafts movement
0:30:46 > 0:30:51was in its infancy, Baillie Scott designed nearly 300 buildings
0:30:51 > 0:30:54between the late Victorian era and the eve of the Second World War.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00In 1902, he would have been a fashionable choice of architect
0:31:00 > 0:31:04for Dundee photography magnate, Harben Valentine.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08It might have been word-of-mouth, it might have been through friends.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11I imagine it was probably something that was suggested to him
0:31:11 > 0:31:16when he went to London to buy art for reproduction.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21And Baillie Scott took up the commission.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27In the library of the Royal Institute of British Architects,
0:31:27 > 0:31:32Kieran discovers the house Baillie Scott first built for Valentine,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34in 1902, looked very different.
0:31:35 > 0:31:40It was called Sandford Cottage and had a thatched roof.
0:31:42 > 0:31:47It says here, "This little house was built in Scotland in a district
0:31:47 > 0:31:49"where thatching with reeds was still understood,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51"and so this method of roofing was adopted."
0:31:53 > 0:31:58But, less than 10 years after it was built, disaster struck.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06We found these extraordinary pictures of a conflagration,
0:32:06 > 0:32:10a blaze that has destroyed this beautiful thatched cottage.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13In this picture we see the roof completely disappeared,
0:32:13 > 0:32:15a kind of ruin shrouded in smoke.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19Harben Valentine commissioned Baillie Scott
0:32:19 > 0:32:22to rebuild his home in 1912.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27The shape of the exterior was drastically altered,
0:32:27 > 0:32:31but the architect had developed his own trademark interior style.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38To find out what inspired the designer,
0:32:38 > 0:32:43Kieran has travelled to the Isle of Man,
0:32:43 > 0:32:47where Baillie Scott spent his early career in the late 1800s.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53He designed an Arts and Crafts police station here
0:32:53 > 0:32:59and several other buildings, as well as his own home.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05It's Mock Tudor on the outside.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09Inside, the design is instantly recognisable.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20We're standing in the space with this amazing fireplace
0:33:20 > 0:33:22which has so many parallels with Sandford.
0:33:22 > 0:33:23It is exciting to be here
0:33:23 > 0:33:26because this is a house that Baillie Scott designed for himself
0:33:26 > 0:33:28and that always tells you a lot about an architect.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32They get to experiment and try out the things that clients
0:33:32 > 0:33:34have perhaps not let them experiment with yet.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37And, most importantly for me,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40and most interestingly, this lovely window, kind of concealed window
0:33:40 > 0:33:43that just allows indirect light into the fireplace.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49The layout of the inglenook fireplace is almost identical
0:33:49 > 0:33:52to the one in Ralph and Evelyn's living room,
0:33:52 > 0:33:56where the concealed window has been replaced by a hotel extractor fan.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02Back on the English mainland, Kieran finds a big clue
0:34:02 > 0:34:06to Baillie Scott's redesign of the exterior of Sandford House
0:34:06 > 0:34:10after the original thatched cottage was destroyed by fire.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18This is Greyfriars House in Surrey,
0:34:18 > 0:34:23the work of architect Charles Voysey in 1896.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26It's just so exciting to be here
0:34:26 > 0:34:28in front of one of Charles Voysey's greatest works.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Charles Voysey, one of the greatest architects
0:34:31 > 0:34:34of the end of the 19th century, an Arts and Crafts architect,
0:34:34 > 0:34:36and somebody who's a contemporary of Baillie Scott's,
0:34:36 > 0:34:39but if you like, the superstar of that generation,
0:34:39 > 0:34:42who was really associated with this style from the late 19th century.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50It's easy to believe that either Baillie Scott or his client,
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Harben Valentine, had this Charles Voysey building in mind
0:34:53 > 0:34:57when they rebuilt Sandford House in 1912.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01We have exactly the same thing at Sandford -
0:35:01 > 0:35:03the facade that faces the landscape downhill
0:35:03 > 0:35:07has this incredibly graphical quality of this large, deep gable.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11The DNA of Sandford House is somewhere here
0:35:11 > 0:35:13in these deep Voyseyan gables.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22He might not have been the Arts and Crafts superstar that Voysey was
0:35:22 > 0:35:25but Baillie Scott's very English Arts and Crafts designs
0:35:25 > 0:35:27were appreciated by one of
0:35:27 > 0:35:31the 20th century's most celebrated architectural commentators.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34His friend, John Betjeman.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37They came together around things that they both loved -
0:35:37 > 0:35:41that's the British countryside, British craftsmanship,
0:35:41 > 0:35:44the kind of Merrie England vision of small villages and so on.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47You can imagine that their dinners together were very pleasant.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52Sandford House is one of those buildings that demonstrates
0:35:52 > 0:35:54the full range of Baillie Scott's career.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57You really understand how it fits with that landscape,
0:35:57 > 0:35:59something that Betjeman loved.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07By the First World War,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10Arts and Crafts architecture had already seen its heyday.
0:36:10 > 0:36:15The 1920s and 30s saw a decline in the number of British craftsmen
0:36:15 > 0:36:17and a return to mass production.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20And ironically,
0:36:20 > 0:36:25one very English architectural style that Baillie Scott himself favoured,
0:36:25 > 0:36:29decades earlier, was now starting to pop up everywhere -
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Mock Tudor.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36Mock Tudor was the antithesis of what he was looking for in architecture.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39He wanted an architecture of craft and fineness
0:36:39 > 0:36:43and this is just mass-produced housing rolled across the suburbs,
0:36:43 > 0:36:45but I still believe there is a link.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49I still think there is a dream of the Merrie England
0:36:49 > 0:36:52shared by Baillie Scott and by this kind of suburban housing.
0:36:52 > 0:36:53It's something in us, us British,
0:36:53 > 0:36:57we always want to look backwards to a time of British villages.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59There is still a dream of something else,
0:36:59 > 0:37:01of a better British past, somehow,
0:37:01 > 0:37:05that this building and Sandford House encapsulate in their architecture.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17Put it over on the wall on the right-hand side of the door.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22It's now almost a year since Evelyn and Ralph began their restoration.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25The original budget,
0:37:25 > 0:37:29to turn the main part of the building into their home,
0:37:29 > 0:37:30was £270,000.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35They've spent nearly all of it already.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38She does worry me when she tells me
0:37:38 > 0:37:41we've spent over 250,000 since we bought it.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44And we haven't even started on the holiday homes yet!
0:37:44 > 0:37:47That seems to be connected to those pipes.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49But they remain undaunted.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52Maybe have to leave that bit just now...
0:37:52 > 0:37:55We just needed to do it. It was so unloved for so long.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58We will just use every penny we've got
0:37:58 > 0:38:00and keep going as long as we can.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03- Is this going on the bonfire?- Yes.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07Ralph and Evelyn's plasterer, John,
0:38:07 > 0:38:12has the job of recreating the work of Sandford's original craftsmen.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Throughout the house,
0:38:15 > 0:38:21plaster corners are rounded off in what are known as bull-nosed curves.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25What I had to do was get this tool made up from a welder.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28I've taken the template off this corner.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31You run that up and it forms it, just at the same time.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37It needed to be taken back to what the original building was,
0:38:37 > 0:38:39you know, and keep the shape of what it was.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43We want to try and keep it the traditional, old way.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49The most challenging plastering job is in the sunken lounge.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52John is applying the final layer
0:38:52 > 0:38:55to one of the largest walls in the house
0:38:55 > 0:38:57and, suddenly, there's a problem.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06The plaster has started to come away.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13It is a nightmare for all of them.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16He put the first skim on and it was dried,
0:39:16 > 0:39:19and it felt solid and it looks as though it's going to be good,
0:39:19 > 0:39:20and he put the finishing coat on today
0:39:20 > 0:39:23but when he put the bonding coat on, it soaked in
0:39:23 > 0:39:25and the plaster just fell off.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29The problem seems to be the original wallcovering,
0:39:29 > 0:39:32which contains hidden layers of paint and paper.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34They've put a line through there.
0:39:34 > 0:39:35That's what I'm thinking.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39Some people have applied paints that are probably oil paints
0:39:39 > 0:39:42or there is some sort of chemical in it to make it watertight
0:39:42 > 0:39:45and of course, the plaster won't adhere to it.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48It's difficult to know which walls have got this on and which haven't.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51We had a really good look at that lower lounge before we started
0:39:51 > 0:39:52because of the size of it,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56and we came to the conclusion that it was sound enough to go ahead.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02We've taken a chance on plastering it. Maybe we shouldn't have,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05but, we've taken the chance and it's no' worked out, so...
0:40:10 > 0:40:13All the plaster will have to be stripped off
0:40:13 > 0:40:16and the work done again from scratch.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22It could take weeks.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27It's just a frustrating time, really, really frustrating.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30Frustrating for me. I've put something on, spent time putting it on.
0:40:30 > 0:40:34Now I've got to take it off and start the whole procedure again.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37You know, but it's part of your job, you've just got to get on with it
0:40:37 > 0:40:40and make sure that the next time we put it on, the surface is right, eh?
0:40:40 > 0:40:42HE CHUCKLES
0:40:51 > 0:40:55Two months later, I pay my second visit to Ralph and Evelyn.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01I want to know if the restoration is still on track.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05And one day...
0:41:05 > 0:41:09One day this will be your lovely bedroom.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11- Yes, it will be.- That's the intent.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17The master bedroom and en suite bathroom will be on the first floor corner,
0:41:17 > 0:41:19above the sunken lounge.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24But they're behind schedule up here, too.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29You did at one point, I think, have an idea
0:41:29 > 0:41:32- that you might be in for this Christmas.- Yes, yes.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35That's only a month away now, six weeks away,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38- so that's out of the question now? - Definitely. - Well, we've done so much more.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41The initial intent was to do the lower lounge,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44the bar, as I call it, and the kitchen, and then just live up here.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47But when we got up here and we started stripping the windows,
0:41:47 > 0:41:49we realised there's a lot more to this.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52They're still living in their temporary home
0:41:52 > 0:41:55in the old hotel wing of the building,
0:41:55 > 0:41:59where Evelyn seamlessly combines her own graphic design work
0:41:59 > 0:42:02with managing the contractors on site.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06That window is a brand-new window that Colin has made from scratch,
0:42:06 > 0:42:11and he's now putting the new leaded panels in it, and it looks fantastic.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14- That's exciting, isn't it?- Great.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17It's hard work, though, isn't it?
0:42:17 > 0:42:21Yeah, it is hard going. It is hard work. And it's hard not being able to get away from it,
0:42:21 > 0:42:24cos I don't really ever get away from it. I'm here all the time,
0:42:24 > 0:42:27day in, day out, and it's because I work from home that I'm here
0:42:27 > 0:42:30and that's what makes it possible, really.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34- Colin!- Ralph's job means he still has to spend time away
0:42:34 > 0:42:35when he'd rather be here.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39I mean, I'd love to just work on the house and not have to go to work
0:42:39 > 0:42:42to earn the money, but of course every time you come home, you just
0:42:42 > 0:42:44rush round and see what's being done through the day,
0:42:44 > 0:42:47cos sometimes we have about five or six people,
0:42:47 > 0:42:50- independent trades, working.- Yeah.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56It's eight weeks since the major setback with the plastering
0:42:56 > 0:42:58in the sunken lounge.
0:42:58 > 0:43:04In the end, drastic measures were needed to tackle the original wall covering,
0:43:04 > 0:43:07which stopped the plaster sticking first time round.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09Once the plaster come off again,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12we had to then scrape off a layer of rubbery paint, wasn't it?
0:43:12 > 0:43:16He actually had to use the hot gun you would usually use for paint work.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19It was the only way we could get the paint to actually peel off.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22After having to start his work all over again,
0:43:22 > 0:43:26plasterer John has stuck patiently to the task.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29And the end of his work on the troublesome sunken lounge
0:43:29 > 0:43:32might finally be in sight.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39Evelyn and Ralph's dream of recreating the original feel
0:43:39 > 0:43:43of this hundred-year-old house was made even trickier,
0:43:43 > 0:43:45because as the 20th century wore on,
0:43:45 > 0:43:48the place became further and further removed
0:43:48 > 0:43:50from its Arts and Crafts beginnings.
0:43:50 > 0:43:55The original owner, Harben Valentine, sold in 1936,
0:43:55 > 0:43:59and it was bought by Sir William Walker, a jute industrialist.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02But then, during the Second World War,
0:44:02 > 0:44:07this place became something very different from a family home.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14The wartime base of the RAF's 333 Squadron
0:44:14 > 0:44:16was just a few miles from Sandford House.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21It operated search-and-destroy missions against enemy targets
0:44:21 > 0:44:24- across the North Sea. - NEWSREEL COMMENTATOR: A number of German merchant ships
0:44:24 > 0:44:28and their escorts were known to be lying in Nordgulen Fjord, Norway,
0:44:28 > 0:44:32and to attack them meant diving steeply between the snow-capped mountains of the enemy's hideout.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44In 1942, new owners Sir William and Lady Walker
0:44:44 > 0:44:48turned Sandford House into a leave centre for the RAF boys
0:44:48 > 0:44:50down the road.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55The airmen of 333 Squadron were Norwegians
0:44:55 > 0:44:58who'd fled the Nazi occupation of their homeland.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02These men were real heroes,
0:45:02 > 0:45:06because Norway was invaded quite early on in the Second World War.
0:45:06 > 0:45:07Some men broke away, came to Britain,
0:45:07 > 0:45:10fought on behalf of the Allies and the Norwegian Resistance,
0:45:10 > 0:45:14and it was some of these men who were looked after in Sandford House.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22One of the heroes of 333 Squadron, who knew Sandford,
0:45:22 > 0:45:26was Egil Johansen, now in his 90s.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52Back home in his native Norway, Egil has never forgotten the role
0:45:52 > 0:45:54Sandford played in his life.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28Sandford was owned by the Walkers until the 1960s,
0:46:28 > 0:46:31the last time the house was a family home.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34It became a hotel in 1964.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46The restoration is now well into its second year,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49and Evelyn's thinking about Arts and Crafts decor.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54Not all the original swan window handles have survived
0:46:54 > 0:46:59since the house was built. And she wants to complete the set.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01We need about ten of them.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03They were obviously made for Sandford.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05I've never ever seen anything like that anywhere else,
0:47:05 > 0:47:08and nobody else has ever seen anything like that anywhere else.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12So, you know, it would be really good to try and replace the ones
0:47:12 > 0:47:14that have sort of gone missing over the years.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20Thought to have been a family tradition of the first owner Harben Valentine,
0:47:20 > 0:47:26it's likely the original swans were custom-made at least a century ago.
0:47:26 > 0:47:31Evelyn has left one of the original handles with local blacksmith John Don
0:47:31 > 0:47:33to see if he can replicate it.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36- There's the original.- Oh.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39- And that's the one we've made. - Oh, very good.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41That's brilliant.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45Obviously it's done different ways than what that was done originally.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48You know, that would have been heated up.
0:47:48 > 0:47:49- Right.- Hammered out.- Yes.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53- And what we've done is individually cut that out...- Yes.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56..and then welded it onto there and just smoothed it off.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58- And then we drilled the holes. - Right.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01And then just centre-punched these wee dimples,
0:48:01 > 0:48:03just to give it that effect.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06There's no way we would get it any better than that.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08I think that's really, really good.
0:48:10 > 0:48:15It's a 21st century re-crafting of an Edwardian window fitting.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19But Evelyn suspects this long established local smithy
0:48:19 > 0:48:23might have made Arts and Crafts window handles for Sandford once before.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28The original ones were possibly made by your ancestors,
0:48:28 > 0:48:30because you've been a blacksmith here,
0:48:30 > 0:48:33- or the blacksmith's been here for years and years. - Could have been, yeah.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36And the house was built in 1902, so I think there's a fair chance
0:48:36 > 0:48:39that the original ones were actually produced here.
0:48:41 > 0:48:42Evelyn's next mission...
0:48:43 > 0:48:45..furniture.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53She hopes to find something just right for Sandford
0:48:53 > 0:48:57at a specialist Arts and Crafts restorers.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01Arts and Crafts furniture's quite plain and simple in style.
0:49:01 > 0:49:02But everything is just so well made,
0:49:02 > 0:49:06and its wee things like that, the details. These handles are just lovely.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12Ralph and Evelyn's last house was modern, with fitted wardrobes.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15Freestanding wardrobes are on the agenda for Sandford.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20That one's £580.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23So I mean, if you had to buy a new wardrobe that was as well-made
0:49:23 > 0:49:27and as solid as that, it would cost you a lot more than that.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34She think she might have spotted the Arts and Crafts wardrobe
0:49:34 > 0:49:37of her dreams for the master bedroom.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41I love that turquoisey blue colour, that's really nice.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43That would suit the space perfectly.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00Ralph and Evelyn have spent the last 18 months
0:50:00 > 0:50:04trying to restore Sandford House to its original, perfect condition.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07I've come to find out how they're getting on, but before I do,
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Kate and Kieran are going to tell them everything
0:50:10 > 0:50:14we've found out about this wonderful architectural gem.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21So we wanted to go on the trail of him, and also to understand
0:50:21 > 0:50:24- how exactly he came to work on your house in that spot.- Yes.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29This is the Red House, his own house that he designed for himself.
0:50:29 > 0:50:34And we went here, really to try and understand some of the relationships in your house.
0:50:34 > 0:50:39What you get to very quickly is this is the main lounge room,
0:50:39 > 0:50:43- an inglenook fireplace lit by a window, this window in the side. - Oh right, yes.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45- Exactly, it's so similar, isn't it? - Yeah.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48KAREN: Quite a few houses were commandeered during the war.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52The Norwegian 333 Squadron, they were living there
0:50:52 > 0:50:56and very excitingly we've tracked one down. Oh, right.
0:50:56 > 0:51:01- Egil Johansen here remembers the house and how much he enjoyed it there.- Fantastic.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05He's really excited you're restoring it, because it's got such happy memories for him.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08I mean, the history is still so alive,
0:51:08 > 0:51:12cos it's the history of the 20th century, isn't it? But there are so many strands to follow.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15I think you should go to the Isle of Man and have a poke around
0:51:15 > 0:51:16- some of those houses.- And Norway.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20- And Norway!- Yes, absolutely. - I think we'll be in touch with that gentleman.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22- Hello, Evelyn, how are you? - Fine. How are you?
0:51:22 > 0:51:25- Really good. Lovely to see you. - Nice to see you.- Lovely to see you.
0:51:25 > 0:51:26- Hello.- Welcome back!
0:51:26 > 0:51:29Thank you. And nice to see all the pipes gone.
0:51:29 > 0:51:33- It's a lot better than it was. - It is. What have you been doing now?
0:51:33 > 0:51:36We've removed all the extra downpipes and also all the bits
0:51:36 > 0:51:39where they had extractor fans stuck through the walls.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43- You've taken all that away?- All gone. It's definitely back to what it was when it was a house,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46- rather than when it was a hotel.- I'm really keen to have a look inside.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48- Is it a good time?- Oh, yeah. - Let's go!- Come on.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53The remnants of its life as a hotel had taken its toll
0:51:53 > 0:51:55on the interior of Sandford House as well.
0:51:55 > 0:52:02In recent years, the essence of what made this meticulously-designed family home magical
0:52:02 > 0:52:05had long been ripped apart and forgotten.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09What was once the popular hotel bar
0:52:09 > 0:52:12has been left in a terrible condition.
0:52:12 > 0:52:17Turning this room back into the heart of a home would be a challenge.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31Oh, it's just lovely.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37What's immediately apparent now is how well its flows...
0:52:37 > 0:52:40- Yes.- ..how you are drawn into this space here.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42And you've got the full use of this,
0:52:42 > 0:52:46- and then you can carry on up or down.- Yes, that's right.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49- This is how people want to live now. - Yes, well, that's it.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53Most modern houses, the living areas are all open-plan.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56- He was really ahead of his time, wasn't he?- I think so, yeah.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59But of course, what's made it a real home is this, isn't it?
0:52:59 > 0:53:01- It is.- It's the wonderful fireplace.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03And the Baillie Scott window,
0:53:03 > 0:53:07tucked away to flood a little extra light, to throw another little...
0:53:07 > 0:53:10- I know.- ..beam of light into the room.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12It's the classic Baillie Scott theme, isn't it?
0:53:12 > 0:53:16An inglenook fireplace with a window in the side.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19Having reinstated Baillie Scott's signature window,
0:53:19 > 0:53:23a further trace of the old hotel has been removed.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26But it's the old restaurant that would be the biggest challenge.
0:53:26 > 0:53:32Almost all evidence of the interior had been ripped out.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36So in this room, it would be up to Ralph and Evelyn to fill the blanks.
0:53:36 > 0:53:37Very, very nice.
0:53:40 > 0:53:44The kitchen is flooded with light.
0:53:44 > 0:53:49The leaded windows perfectly frame the spectacular landscape beyond.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52- It's fantastically light...- It is.
0:53:52 > 0:53:57..and actually kind of effortlessly glamorous kitchen, isn't it?
0:53:57 > 0:54:00What have we got here? Bread?
0:54:00 > 0:54:03Oh, God, they're delightful. Oh, they're lovely!
0:54:03 > 0:54:06- So really, you're bringing your own Arts and Crafts...- Yes.
0:54:06 > 0:54:11..into the modern parts of the house. It's these details that make the difference, isn't it?
0:54:11 > 0:54:13Yes, yes, definitely.
0:54:13 > 0:54:17Evidence of Ralph and Evelyn's attention to detail
0:54:17 > 0:54:21now sits effortlessly alongside that of the original fabric of the house.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25That's what I really love about this house,
0:54:25 > 0:54:33is that you can tell that the architect and the guy paying the bills have spent hours...
0:54:33 > 0:54:37- Yes, going over these sort of things.- Talking about every last detail of it.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41Architects of the Arts and Crafts period turned their hand
0:54:41 > 0:54:44to much more than just fixtures and fittings.
0:54:44 > 0:54:50Baillie Scott also designed furniture to sit within the houses he designed.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53One such piece has been returned to Sandford House.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57- There we go.- Oh, it's a piano! - It's a piano.
0:54:57 > 0:55:01Well, there was one originally, downstairs in the lower lounge.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03- In this house?- Yeah. - Back here where it belongs!- Yeah.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07It's our first bit of Baillie Scott furniture, but we'll get more.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11And it was in the breathtaking sunken lounge
0:55:11 > 0:55:15that they faced one of their biggest challenges.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18Years of neglect had left the windows running with damp.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23Water was penetrating the frames all over the house.
0:55:23 > 0:55:24They have now been refurbished.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38This is magnificent!
0:55:42 > 0:55:44But you've done it exactly as it would have been done
0:55:44 > 0:55:48- and you've replaced what would have been here.- Yes.
0:55:48 > 0:55:50- That was the intent all the way along.- Yeah.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54Do you love the house more than when you first saw it?
0:55:54 > 0:55:56Oh, yeah, definitely.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59I mean, I really did, when I first saw it,
0:55:59 > 0:56:03you know, I really always loved the house as a building.
0:56:03 > 0:56:08But I think actually living here now, it's sometimes hard to believe
0:56:08 > 0:56:10that you're actually living in a house like this.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14Having dried out and restored the fabric of the hall,
0:56:14 > 0:56:19they're well on the way to completing this spectacular space.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23They still have a long way to go in this restoration.
0:56:23 > 0:56:25Their bedroom is ongoing,
0:56:25 > 0:56:29but in the coming months they hope to have many more rooms completed.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32Their dedicated and meticulous work
0:56:32 > 0:56:36has cost them nearly £300,000 so far.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47You're both perfectionists. Do you think you've achieved perfection?
0:56:47 > 0:56:51- I would say so.- Yes, we're satisfied with that. With the result.
0:56:51 > 0:56:53Yes, it's definitely the way I wanted it to be.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56There's no MDF, you know.
0:56:59 > 0:57:00Coming to Sandford House,
0:57:00 > 0:57:04you're immediately struck by the overwhelming care
0:57:04 > 0:57:06that went into not just the design,
0:57:06 > 0:57:09but also the construction of this house.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12And I think at the heart of that is the relationship
0:57:12 > 0:57:14between architect and client,
0:57:14 > 0:57:17between Baillie Scott and Harben Valentine.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21They were always going to be a very hard act to follow.
0:57:21 > 0:57:26So after years of neglect, Sandford House now has a future,
0:57:26 > 0:57:29not just because it's watertight and dry,
0:57:29 > 0:57:36but because Evelyn and Ralph are applying the same care and obsession with detail
0:57:36 > 0:57:39that was given to this place by those craftspeople
0:57:39 > 0:57:41a hundred years ago.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45And I know they are going to continue to do that
0:57:45 > 0:57:48until everything here is perfect.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59On the next Restoration Home,
0:57:59 > 0:58:03a once-grand Georgian home sits rotting inside and out.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06It is heartbreaking to see it in this state.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09You just get a sense of how beautiful this space would have been.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13Originally built for a rich landowning family,
0:58:13 > 0:58:16today an ordinary family have sunk every penny they have
0:58:16 > 0:58:19to make this their dream home.
0:58:20 > 0:58:26I think it will look nice, and I think my dad will do a good job.
0:58:26 > 0:58:29Deep down I want to be confident but I just... I don't know.
0:58:37 > 0:58:40Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd