Instead of building a spacious home for themselves and their two grown-up children, Marin and Christine Smith decided to take a more radical approach to family living. Martin Smith trusted his wife Christine's judgement implicitly when she bought a house near Wakefield while he was 3,000 miles away in Kuwait.
Although Martin had never seen the dorma— bungalow in the pretty conservation village of Newmillerdam, he could tell From Christine's description, including the property's 22ft long bay window and steep terraced garden, that it was in a striking location, close to a country park and lake.
"We had sold the house we hod in a nearby village and were chasing another property near York, which tell through," said Martin. "l had to return to Kuwait due to work commitments, so Christine stayed back in the UK to look for an alternative. She had always wanted to live in Newmillerdam and this was too good on
opportunity to miss."
Unable to move straight into the property, which cost them £ l05,000 in l988, Christine and Martin decided to let it while they were overseas, eventually returning to live there in l990. It had clearly suffered the effects of being rented for so long. The building itself was 'tired' and the garden overgrown, but Christine and Martin, a chartered civil engineer who is a director of Maidwell Associates, had visions of turning it into a spacious family home for themselves, their children Victoria and Mark, and Christine's parents. When they started to discuss options with an architect, however, their plans soon changed.
Radical House Remodeling Part 2
Radical House Remodeling Part 3
Radical House Remodeling Part 4
Radical House Remodeling Part 5
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