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Wednesday, July 21, 2010
I'm sure many a partner has heard those words uttered by their other half, smitten & madly in love with a 'Renovator's Delight'. Country Life is currently running a Restoration of the Century Award. There are some absolute rippers & it's well worth a visit to have a squizz at all of the entries here. My favourite is this Grade 11 Listed Georgian House, which had been empty & decaying for 50 years & was marked for demolition. The image above is the front of the house AFTER restoration.
And BEFORE. The front façade lead gutter work had split enabling water to leak into the brick work and structural internal timbers. A 9 inch height difference had emerged due to subsidence from north to south gable. All the floor structures had fallen into the cellar - ouch!
The rear of the house BEFORE. Although the brickwork appeared reasonably intact, investigation proved that almost two thirds needed to be taken down and rebuilt to make the house safe. 
And AFTER. The facade ornamentation was also rebuilt each brick being removed, cleaned, numbered and stacked before being replaced in its original position. The dilapidated house took six months to make safe and stabilise.
The Hall BEFORE. Before restoration could begin bird cage scaffolding throughout the main house allowed brick work and timbers to remain in place where possible. As the structure had in many places collapsed the internal plan of the building was taken from drawings originally made to justify the building’s proposed demolition in 1984. 
And AFTER. Using local craftsmen who excelled in their field, the carpentry was authentically refurbished in the vernacular style, brickwork rebuilt and mortar colour matched. 
The Drawing Room BEFORE.
And AFTER. After seeing this, MOTH should be thanking his lucky stars that our 'small' renovation has so far not involved putting internal scaffolding in place just to hold our brickwork up! 
