A man invested his life savings into a derelict cowshed on a whim, and has since transformed it into his dream home. Simon Baker, 52, took a ‘huge gamble’ and traded his one-bedroom flat in London for the ‘crumbling’ property in the scenic Machno Valley of North Wales.
Despite not having any planning permissions and facing the challenge of spending chilly nights in his Ford Focus whilst he built his home, Simon’s gamble paid off as the shed, believed to date back to 1760, has been shortlisted as a finalist on the BBC One show ‘Wales Home of The Year’.
Simon shared his passion for the project, saying: “When I saw the shed I fell in love with it – it was a heart-over-head decision. Everyone in my family thought I was mad.”
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He added: “I have always had an urge to do a build and a restoration project. And I saw this property had come up for auction in 2013. It was up for sale without any planning perms to convert it. I saw it online and thought it looked like a project that could be a good thing to do.”
Simon also acknowledged the risks involved, stating: “With the right kind of support and a bit of luck I could do it. I bought it before the auction and then some of it fell down – which was a bit worrying.”
His renovation journey was fraught with challenges because the shed was under a National Trust restrictive covenant, requiring their approval for any changes.
The building itself was also falling down, had never been lived in, and was without access and services. But after carefully preserving surviving elements of the old cowshed, Simon incorporated clever interior design tricks â and Welsh roof slate from Cwt-y-Bugail quarry, just 2 miles away from the shed.
He also worked with a number of people locally to understand how to best restore it. “There was no point loving the place and then changing it completely. I wanted to keep visible stone in every direction you look in the barn,” said Simon.
“I had a fantastic local builder who I was able to convince to join me in this journey – they worked in these sort of buildings all their life as they tend to do it faithfully to the tradition.
“It was quite challenging to fit everything in and I realise the best way to use the space is to have a curved stair. And once I realised that that was the best way to do it everything else had to be set up on curves.”
Despite being “a bit scared” with the building task, it was a “hugely rewarding process” to live in a space designed by himself. Simon said: “It fits my way of life completely and thatâs hugely kind of rewarding.
“The land was affordable by today’s standards – I took a huge gamble into buying the land because I had to put all my savings into buying the land out right at the start. And it was a huge risk because it didnât have any permissions.”
Simon continued: “When I bought this I was living in a flat in South London – it was a big change. It was a big step to take the project on – that presented its own challenges. I was a bit scared. Building it is quite interesting because you start in the beginning in control and then somewhere in the middle you lose control and you have to finish, otherwise you potentially lose everything and you have to keep pushing on.”
The shedâs old beams were preserved where possible, and from the outside, the shed looks pretty much like it would have done in the 18th century. He added: “I had done many conversions and I have always been interested in the building design. I owe a large part of doing this into my dad who was into DIY – my dad was probably my inspiration for doing this.
To thank those involved in the shed renovation, Simon decided to apply for BBC One’s Wales Home of The Year award. He has made it to the finals which will be broadcasted in December.
He said: “I am not interested in the publicity for me. I wanted to celebrate the local people up here who worked so hard for it. The wonderful thing about doing a self-built project is that you feel like you are part of the community.”
“You are buying all the materials from the local people and a lot of people who worked on it are very close friends. The builders graze some of the sheep on my top field.”
“It is my forever home. I enjoyed living in London and I still have to go there from time to time. I always enjoyed having a contrast in my life,” said Simon. “People in the village remember milking the cows when it was a cowshed. The National Trust told me that it dates from 1760 – it is quite old but the reason that it became derelict is that it is too small for modern farming needs.”
“I can look around the valley here and they are in different stages of disrepair. Once the roof falls down with the strong winds and bits of the stone start to get reused then they just disappear. I felt like I could be the life saver for this little humble barn and preserve it for future generations.”
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