The House in the Enchanted Forest

This is the story of the purchase and renovation of Matthew & Jane's house somewhere in the heart of England, following Matthew’s redundancy in 2010 at the age of 58. Said to be from c.1835, we first saw it in Aug 2010. It had been empty for only a few weeks but was pretty awful due to dampness and long term neglect. Locals thought it had been uninhabited for years and was only fit for demolition! But we bought it anyway and moved in after 8 months work in July 2011.

About MatthewC

I am a Chartered Engineer but just retired (July 2010) on redundancy at 58. I've wanted for years to do a house refurbishment project and this one seems like it will keep me busy!

I'm married to Jane who runs a charity (you can tell it's a charity by the difficulty in getting income) - 39 years not out, and life keeps getting better.

We have two children who both have professional jobs in the public sector, and we're very proud of them. There is even a first grandchild (a boy born in December 2010) so now I have to get used to being a grandfather.