Rowan, 45, and Tim Giles, 48, from Manchester, have spent over a decade renovating a ‘dilapidated’ villa untouched since the 1950s into a dream home for their family
A woman has revealed how she and her husband transformed a “dilapidated” villa into a dream home for their family â adding around £640,000 to the property value.
Rowan Giles, 45, and her husband, Tim, 48, from Manchester, have spent over a decade doing up the semi-detached, five-bedroom, two-bathroom property, which they purchased for £360,000 in July 2012.
The property, which had remained untouched since the 1950s, ticked all the boxes despite being “in really bad shape”. In 2023, the pair are thrilled with the result, having spent just over £280,000 on the transformation in total and currently live in the home with their three children.
“Lots of family and friends thought we were mad for taking it on,” the PR consultant told NeedToKnow.co.uk. “The house hadn’t been updated, there was a hole in the roof, no central heating and old wooden sash windows, and the kitchen was from the 1950s. But we were looking for a period property, as well as a project, and this house ticked both boxes.