Siblings Emma and Lee spent the past 18 months transforming a historic house into what is now a beautiful ‘forever family home’ and have put it on the market for £1.4million
Taking on a DIY home renovation is not for the faint-hearted, particularly when it involves an older property. From antiquated interiors to outdated electrical and plumbing systems, reviving a period property can be a time-consuming and costly endeavour. However, these potential challenges didn’t deter Emma Candlin, 45, and her brother Lee, 39.
The pair from Tottington embarked on the ambitious project of buying and renovating a 1890s lodge house in Haslingden, nestled in the beautiful Lancashire countryside, with the aim of restoring it to its former splendour. Over the past 18 months the siblings, who jointly run a property business, have been meticulously transforming the historic house into what is now a stunning ‘forever family home’.
They are now hoping to reap the rewards of their hard work by listing it on the market for a whopping £1.4million. Emma shared her experience with Manchester Evening News as part of its Where I Live series.
The duo have been collaborating on house renovations for their clients for the past six years, but decided they wanted to purchase an old house and undertake a DIY project together with the ultimate goal of selling it. Emma opened up about her passion for properties with a past, saying: “We grew up in an old property in Tottington, so I’ve just always been drawn to older, period properties. I just find them more interesting and fascinating, they’ve always got a story to go with them.”
She added: “We wanted to buy a house with the intention of doing it up and selling it, but we wanted somewhere that we could bring back to life.” The siblings had their eyes on Grane Lodge, a historic lodge house from 1893 listed on Rightmove, which unfortunately sold before they could bid.
Emma recalled: “The house was beautiful and we could see it had lots of potential. It is steeped in history and has gorgeous open views of the countryside. Ironically one of the reservoirs that it has a view of is Ogden Reservoir and that’s our family name, so that was quite fitting.”
They didn’t lose hope, registering their interest just in case, and as fate would have it the sale fell through and the lodge returned to the market. Emma said: “We really wanted it so we registered our details just in case, and then luckily for us it came back on the market because the other sale fell through. We were straight through the door at 9am that morning and made an offer which luckily was accepted.”
Taking possession of the keys in November 2022, they dived into renovations immediately. Emma reflected on the condition of their new project: “When we bought it, it was very very dated. But the previous owner had looked after it so it was generally in good condition and structurally it was great, so we were lucky there.”
Speaking about the renovation journey, she said: “We knew exactly what we wanted to do with it and we’ve been working on it ourselves full time since we got the keys. First we stripped all the walls and ceilings, and then we put a full new heating system in and we then did all new electrics. We were expecting problems with rot and damp with it being an old house but luckily there wasn’t any.”
She continued: “Structural alterations wise, we’ve only removed a side wall for sliding doors to make way for the views because they are stunning. We’ve done a full loft conversion on it, and also removed a wall between the kitchen and dining room to open it up into a large family kitchen area. We’ve also done the garden.”
The couple has reconfigured the house layout as well. Emma went on: “We have done a full size loft conversion to add in more bedrooms. Because of the new configuration, we had to close off the original butler’s staircase but we didn’t want to get rid of it completely so we’ve made it a feature downstairs by lighting it up and incorporating it into a wine cupboard.
“The house now has a huge hall, stairs and landing, an open-plan kitchen and living area, a lounge, a reading room, six double bedrooms and a beautiful master en-suite with a walk-in wardrobe, a family bathroom and three shower rooms.”
Emma and Lee have been on a mission to update their home while keeping its original allure. They’ve gone to great lengths to restore the property’s historic charm, with Emma sharing, “We wanted to restore it to its former glory so we put all the original ornate coving back in and we had a company put the ceiling roses back in as they had been replaced.”
She continued, detailing the painstaking efforts of her father: “My dad painstakingly restored all 55 original stair spindles and 26 doors so we could keep the originals. We’ve added some features back in to the house that had previously been taken out like the beautiful swan neck coving, internal window mullions and high 12 inch skirting boards.”
Emma went on to describe the traditional aesthetic they’ve embraced for the interior: “We’ve kept the interior very traditional. We’ve gone for panelling and lots of traditional, neutral colours. We’ve gone for LVT herringbone flooring in the kitchen living area and everywhere else is luxury carpets.”
Discussing the hands-on DIY journey, Emma said: “We have used an electrician and plasterer but my brother does plumbing and so he fitted the kitchen and all the bathrooms. I got stuck into all the decorating and labouring.
“My dad has helped us out massively in the garden and generally around the house. My sisters and mum have worked tirelessly cleaning the house as the work has progressed and helped out on bits of DIY, so it’s been a real family effort.”
Finally, Emma disclosed the scale of their project: “All in all it’s been a hell of a lot of work. We set ourselves a budget but it’s gone way, way over – two and a half times the amount we thought – but it’s been worth it. It’s been a dream to see it all come together.”
“I’ll be absolutely gutted when we sell it, it will be heart-wrenching to let it go. I keep doing the lottery in the hopes that I could keep it, but it’s now ready for its new family. It needs to be lived in and appreciated. Whoever is lucky enough to buy her will have a beautiful forever home.”
