Savvy family sell three-bed semi to convert 400-year-old thatched cottage into ‘forever home’ in £100,000 DIY renovation

A family who sold their three-bed semi for a rundown 400-year-old thatched cottage in the countryside are now living out of a caravan and an outbuilding to turn the relic into their “forever home” in a £100,000 all-hands-on-deck renovation viewed by millions online.

Andy Flood, 41, from Bedford, and his wife, Becky, 39, sold their three-bedroom ex-housing association property for £400,000 in August, 2022 and began hunting for their dream house – soon discovering the cottage near Everton in Bedfordshire and purchasing it last summer.

The two-bedroom property had fallen into disrepair, needing a new roof, kitchen and heating installed, as well as having mould and rot, but Andy and Becky bought it for £280,000 and have budgeted £100,000 for the renovations and they estimate it will be worth double once finished.

The couple are currently living in a caravan and have converted one of the property’s four outbuildings into temporary accommodation for their two children, Ben, 16, and Phoebe, 13, who are often drafted in to help with the renovation.

The hands-on family hope to complete the project by July 2024 to mark their 20th wedding anniversary, and their renovation has garnered millions of views on TikTok.

During the works they have stumbled upon many historical trinkets including pieces of hand painted wallpaper and medicine bottles, one of which coincidentally has Andy’s surname on it thanks to a nearby pharmacist called Flood who lived in the area decades before.

“My name was already in the land,” Andy, who owns a roofing consultancy company, told PA Real Life.

“We’re doing a lot of the work ourselves but using tradesmen when we need to.

“It is a lot of hard work … but I’ve done all sorts of jobs so I’m really practical and know how to do a hard day’s grafting.

“We get to imagine and create our family home where people can come and feel loved.”

The couple began looking for their dream home in the countryside around two years ago after selling their semi-detached, ex-housing association house in Cople, Bedfordshire.

“We wanted a bit of space in the countryside with a decent-sized plot where we could actually build our forever home,” he said.

Finding a suitable plot was not easy, however, and the couple were gazumped just a week before signing on a property in North Bedfordshire.

“It broke our heart because in our minds we had moved into that place and it got pulled away from us,” he said.

“We had to pick ourselves up again fairly quickly and move on.”

But in the summer of 2023 they stumbled upon an old thatched cottage in Everton, at the heart of what was once a medieval settlement.

“It needed a lot of love but yeah, we went for it and because we had a mortgage in place and funds in the bank, it went through quite quickly and we moved in.”

They purchased the property for £280,000 and budgeted £100,000 to carry out the serious renovations on a house which had fallen into disrepair.

“The roof needed replacing, there was barely any kitchen and no heating,” he said.

“There were also patches of damp and rotten timber.”

The two-bedroom cottage comes with a 30m long greenhouse as well as four sheds and garages, which were not accessible as the garden was so overgrown.

“You literally couldn’t walk through the garden,” he said.

While Andy does not know the exact date, the cottage is believed to date back to the 16th or 17th century when it was in fact split into two dwellings.

The couple have turned one of the barns into temporary accommodation for their two children, Ben and Phoebe, and are themselves currently living in a caravan in the garden while carrying out the renovation.

“We’re comfortable but it’s nothing fancy – it’s a tiny little caravan, but it’s warm and dry,” he said.

The couple have changed the interior of the cottage, keeping the original beams exposed, and built an extension with two extra bedrooms as well as a kitchen and lounge.

They found a number of hidden historical treasures along the way, including the medicine bottle.

“Inside the cottage itself, it hadn’t been touched properly for decades,” said Andy.

“We found some curious looking bottles, which I think are old medicine bottles.

“So there was an old pharmacist in Bedford and one of them was named Flood.

“I couldn’t believe it.”

They also discovered part of an old penknife and pieces of hand-painted wallpaper which they are planning to display in a keepsake cabinet.

But the building’s historical heritage could also put a spanner in the works.

“One of the biggest challenges when you buy a cottage like this is having an archaeological survey,” said Andy.

“It turns out there was a medieval settlement in Everton and this is in the heart of where it would have been.

“And if they find anything and we have to dig it up, that’s not cheap, we’re talking at least £5,000.”

If all goes to plan, Andy and Becky, who owns a cleaning company, are hoping to finish the renovation work by July 10 2024, to mark their 20th wedding anniversary.

“We would like it to be done by then, but we’ll see how things go,” he said.

“It will probably come and go and we’ll still be in the caravan.”

While he is certainly not interested in selling, he estimates that once completed the cottage will be worth at least double what they bought it for.

“We bought it for £280,000 and I think we’ll double that,” he said.

“But we’re not investors who are doing this for money, we just want to have a lovely family home.”

Asked what advice he has for people who are interested in following in his footsteps, Andy said getting others involved is the key.

A few days after they purchased the cottage, Andy posted a video on TikTok of him walking around with some music in the background which received nearly three million views.

He has since taken to documenting the renovation process so others can learn from his mistakes.

To find out more, follow Andy on TikTok and Instagram at @ThisOldRestoration