I ploughed my life savings into buying derelict cowshed and turning it into my dream home – with incredible results

A MAN who sold his one-bed London level and utilized each of his savings to bargain a derelict cattle shed had turned the acquisition into his everlastingly home.

Simon Baker, 52, purchased the onshore and shed successful the Machno Valley, North Wales, without readying permission.

Simon has present acknowledged that it was a "huge gamble" but helium doesn't regret having to walk cold nights camping successful the backmost of his Ford Focus portion the aged chromatic gathering was being renovated.

And the present modern-looking shed - believed to beryllium dated backmost to 1760 - has made it to the finalist of the BBC One show Wales Home of The Year.

Simon said: "When I saw the shed I fell successful love with it - it was a heart-over-head decision. Everyone successful my household thought I was mad.

"I person ever had an impulse to bash a build and a restoration project. And I saw this spot had travel up for auction successful 2013.

"It was up for merchantability without immoderate readying perms to person it. I saw it online and thought it looked similar a task that could beryllium a bully happening to do.

"With the close benignant of enactment and a spot of luck I could bash it. I bought it earlier the auction and past immoderate of it fell down - which was a spot worrying."

The renovation prospects didn't look promising arsenic the shed lacked readying consent and was taxable to a National Trust restrictive covenant - which needed their consent.

And the gathering was a derelict falling down cowshed, had ne'er been lived in, and had nary entree oregon services.

But aft cautiously preserving surviving elements of the old cattle shed, Simon incorporated clever interior plan tricks - and Welsh extortion slate which came from Cwt-y-Bugail quarry conscionable 2 miles distant from the shed.

He besides worked with a fig of radical locally to recognize however to champion reconstruct it.

"There was nary constituent loving the spot and past changing it completely. I wanted to support disposable chromatic successful each absorption you look in the barn," said Simon.

"I had a fantastic section builder who I was capable to person to articulation maine successful this travel - they worked successful these sort of buildings each their beingness arsenic they thin to bash it faithfully to the tradition.

"It was rather challenging to acceptable everything successful and I realise the best mode to usage the space is to person a curved stair. And erstwhile I realised that that was the champion mode to bash it everything other had to beryllium acceptable up connected curves."

He explained that contempt being a "bit scared" with the gathering task it was a "hugely rewarding process" to unrecorded successful a space designed by himself.

Simon said: "It fits my mode of beingness wholly and that's hugely benignant of rewarding.

"The onshore was affordable by contiguous standards - I took a immense gamble into buying the land due to the fact that I had to enactment each my savings into buying the onshore retired close astatine the start.

"And it was a immense hazard due to the fact that it didn't person any permissions.

"When I bought this I was surviving successful a level successful South London - it was a large change. It was a large measurement to instrumentality the task on - that presented its ain challenges.

"I was a spot scared. Building it is rather absorbing due to the fact that you commencement successful the opening successful power and past determination successful the mediate you suffer power and you person to finish, different you perchance suffer everything and you person to support pushing on."

Where possible, the shed's aged beams were preserved. And from the extracurricular the shed looks beauteous overmuch similar it would person done successful the 18th century.

He added: "I had done galore conversions and I person ever been funny successful the gathering design. I beryllium a ample portion of doing this into my dada who was into DIY - my dada was astir apt my inspiration for doing this."

As a mode to convey those progressive successful the shed renovation, Simon decided to use for BBC One's Wales Home of The Year award.

And has made it to the finals which volition beryllium broadcasted successful December.

He said: "I americium not funny successful the publicity for me. I wanted to observe the section radical up present who worked truthful hard for it.

"The fantastic happening astir doing a self-built project is that you consciousness similar you are portion of the community.

"You are buying each the materials from the section radical and a batch of radical who worked connected it are precise adjacent friends. The builders graze immoderate of the sheep connected my apical field.

"It is my forever home. I enjoyed surviving successful London and I inactive person to spell determination from clip to time. I ever enjoyed having a opposition successful my life."

Simon, who works for Network Rail arsenic an incidental manager says that helium is adjacent learning Welsh astatine the infinitesimal to beryllium a part of the community - arsenic it is their archetypal language.

He added: "People successful the colony retrieve milking the cows erstwhile it was a cowshed. The National Trust told maine that it dates from 1760 - it is rather aged but the crushed that it became derelict is that it is excessively tiny for modern farming needs.

"I tin look astir the vale present and they are successful antithetic stages of disrepair. Once the extortion falls down with the beardown winds and bits of the chromatic commencement to get reused past they conscionable disappear.

"I felt similar I could beryllium the beingness saver for this small humble barn and sphere it for aboriginal generations."