When Sarah and John Reed decided to move from their self-build in Glazebury they swapped it for a very different house on the street where they lived – one in need of serious TLC. ‘We built our own home nine years ago, just 10 doors down from where we are now. Then just after we got married, in 2017, this one came up for sale.
When all the wedding planning was over, I was ready for another project,’ says Sarah. ‘John had lived on this street since he was 10, and he and his dad always said, “when that one comes up it will be a good buy”. It’s got a great plot – an extensive garden, which you don’t find here often – but it needed a lot of work.
‘The garden was completely overgrown, and the house needed a lot of work. There was black mould and it needed everything new. It had been John and Sarah’s plan to extend and update the house, making it suitable for contemporary living, but this proved rather a challenge.
‘Our house sold immediately,’ Sarah says, ‘then we hit the hard bit. Planning permission was denied for the size of rear extension we wanted, so we had to go smaller. We weren’t allowed to add a front porch or attach the garage to the house.
The couple weren't allowed to add a porch, so John suggested they glaze the double height hallway from top to bottom. (Image: Kirsty Thompson) ‘John came up with the idea of the fully glazed centre section at the front of the house, which at first, I was very unsure about but now I love it and can’.