Family abandon grandpa’s 200-yr-old cottage 10 yrs until grandson turns neglected home into stunning one
Jack Shelly had a plan. He was going to transform his granddad’s 200-year-old cottage into a modern Airbnb cottage.
It was going to be a challenging project.
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Although 200-year-old cottages can still function well, this one has been neglected ever since his granddad passed away in 2010.
Jack’s granddad bought this cottage in 1950 when he was still 29 years old. It’s a 2-bedroom house with no insulation and single-glazed windows.
This is where Jack’s father and his five siblings together with their parents grew up. His granddad lived in this cottage until he passed away in 2010.
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No one lived in it since then and it has since fallen into disrepair.
Finally, in 2020, Jack and his father decided to renovate the old cottage and transform it into a modern cottage they can rent on Airbnb, an online platform for homestays.
“At the start of this year, we started clearing it out and are going to renovate it over the summer. The idea is to rent it on Airbnb by the end of August. Budget is 25k, if the credit union are feeling generous,” Jack wrote on his Instagram post.
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Jack used his Instagram account to document the entire renovation from start to finish.
And he was going to do the renovations mostly by himself. Of course, other parts, like electrical and plumbing, need to be left to the experts.
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They started by clearing away what wasn’t needed before tackling what was actually needed.
There was a porch outside the front door that was added in 1970. It was one of the first parts that had to go because of two reasons.
“First, it wasn’t original, it was built on in 1970. Second was cost, a new window and roof was needed and the walls needed to be insulated. It was built to deflect the wind away from the front door so draughts could be an issue but hopefully a solid front door will minimise it,” Jack explained.
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Next, they tackled the roof and the chimney.
Jack wanted to get it done so they could tackle insulation early. And he also wanted to install a glass panel on the side so there’ll be more light coming into the stairs and kitchen.
Because he had an end goal for this cottage, every decision Jack made had a purpose for it. It wasn’t a decision made because it looked nice but to make it appealing for the guest.
The cottage was getting new windows, new electricals, new plumbing, and new walls. And it was finally getting new insulation. The fireplace stove was getting new bricks and a new look.
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Jack did make more changes inside the cottage.
It’s still a two-bedroom cottage but he brought one bedroom downstairs and one bedroom upstairs. What about the living area? He placed that upstairs so there’s more room to relax.
And since he planned to make it a cottage good for six to eight people, he added two bathrooms to accommodate all of them. One of them is a little tight with the sink in a small corner of the bathroom but it still works!
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Jack started the renovation in January 2020 and planned to have it ready by August 2020.
But with his hard work and determination, he managed to finish the renovations by the end of May 2020. He officially opened the cottage on Airbnb on June 6, 2020, and their calendar has been filled up 75% of the time.
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Would you like to see how your next vacation destination started? Watch the video below.
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