A couple spent $160,000 to purchase what they described as “the ugliest house on the street,” but after learning do-it-yourself techniques on YouTube, they transformed the house into their dream home, effectively doubling its value.
Lizzy Williams, 37, and her husband Phil Williams, 40, bought a semi-detached house with four bedrooms in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in June 2014.
The couple claimed that the house was the “ugliest” on the street, having been unoccupied for four years. They described the interior as having holes in the ceiling, dead plants, and mold in the downstairs bathroom.
Over the course of nine years, the couple undertook the renovation themselves, learning plumbing, electrical work, pool construction, and kitchen installation through DIY tutorials on YouTube, estimating savings of $253,840.
Lizzy Williams, who works in marketing, stated, “Phil pays great attention to detail, and he absorbs information very well. We used online forums a lot to help us, and we also watched videos on YouTube.”
However, when Phil Williams encountered specific challenges he didn’t know how to solve, he sought help from family and friends.
Within six months of purchasing the property in June 2014, the couple moved in and started renovations. They initially lived in two bedrooms while renovation work was ongoing around them.
“We turned the front room into a bedroom and used the back bedroom as a living room,” said Lizzy Williams.
When the couple originally bought the property with four bedrooms, they later expanded the house to make the bedrooms larger and converted the garage into four additional rooms – a utility room, a bathroom, a study, and a luggage room.
“We rewired the entire house and added a two-story rear extension with our neighbors. We expanded the footprint of the house out into the garden,” Lizzy Williams explained. “We also dug down a bit, there was a space underneath the house which we turned into a storage room. We gained this extra space, and now you walk into our kitchen area.”
The main house renovation took the couple six years to complete. By September 2023, all renovations were finished with the garden completed.
In total, the couple spent $160,000 on the property, utilizing their own savings of $50,771, loans, and wages to fund the renovation project.
Lizzy Williams said, “This is also why it has taken us so long, we did not have a huge reserve. It has been a tough journey but we love it.”
Her favorite room in the house is the kitchen. “We absolutely love the kitchen, we love the high ceilings and the spaciousness. In a 1950s house, you couldn’t have this kind of space, our kitchen ceiling is 3.5 meters (11.4 feet) high,” she shared.
She explained that it gives her a sense of space and openness that she couldn’t experience elsewhere.
Additionally, she enjoys the unique features in the house, such as the “hangover bench” in the shower and the television in the bathroom.
Reflecting on their renovation journey, Lizzy Williams said, “We poured our hearts and souls into renovating the house, a lot of the renovations we did ourselves, which made our home distinctive.”
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