09-02-2025
'We turned a dated 1930s three-bed bungalow into a luxury five-bed house - now we're selling it for £775,000'
A DIY-savvy couple have transformed what was one an old-fashioned three-bed bungalow into a stunning five-bedroom house - and it's now looking for a new owner.
Sarah Meadows and her husband, who have a passion for bringing older properties back to life, took on their latest project more than six years ago when they stumbled across an old 1930s bungalow which 'hadn't been touched for nearly 50 years'.
After seeing its potential, they purchased the home in Marple, Stockport in September 2018 and have extended and fully renovated it, all whilst living in it with their two children.
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Now, they have decided to put their bespoke five-bed detached house on the market for a new family to love and make memories in, whilst they search for their next project.
Sarah spoke to the Manchester Evening News as part of our Where I Live series. Each week we chat to a different homeowner from across the region to hear about their buying and renovation journey, whilst taking a look inside their home.
'Myself and my husband have done quite a lot of property renovations. This is our biggest one that we've lived in at the same time as doing," Sarah told the M.E.N.
"We do the majority of the work ourselves. My husband is a joiner and builder, so he can put his hand to anything. I work in the interior design field, so I absolutely love doing up houses. My husband does all of the building work and the knocking down walls and I do all of the interiors, so we make a really good team."
The couple were looking for their next project when they came across a bungalow down the road from their previous house. "We were already living in the village and it was just down the road. When it came on the market, we viewed it and straight away we thought 'yes, that's for us'," said Sarah.
"We're pretty good at walking in places, knowing if it needs a bit of love put into it and visualising what we can do to it. It was a 1930s three-bedroom bungalow that hadn't been touched for around 50 years. The lady who lived there still had the same original carpets and nothing had changed from the decor to the layout."
Excited by the prospect of transforming the dated home, Sarah and her husband put their house straight on the market - but soon encountered a problem. "We put ours on the market specifically for this bungalow. But then somebody had put an offer in before we'd sold ours, and it sold," she explained.
"We were like 'Oh my god', as we had put our house on the market just to buy the bungalow. We didn't know what to do, we wondered do we take it off, or do we look for another one?."
But their luck turned around when the estate agent contacted them. "We looked around and then the previous offer must have fallen through as the estate agent told us it was back on the market, and asked if we still wanted it. We were thrilled and thought it was just meant to be," Sarah said.
"Our last property was a Victorian house, so it was a very different project for us. But it was a nice blank canvas really to do what we wanted to it."
After buying the house in September 2018, the DIY duo had to wait six months before they could get stuck into renovating, which Sarah says was a blessing.
"We had to wait for planning to be approved, but that was good for us as we were able to live in the property and make sure that what we thought we wanted to do with it was correct," she said.
"We did change it slightly from a layout point of view. We've got two older children, so we wanted to make sure they both had enough space and they were happy with what we were doing."
The couple started at the top with a loft conversion to make it a two-storey house. "We started at the top because the roof configuration and style changed as well.
"We had a new roof put on, we put two rooms up in the loft, and then we had to make stairs up there and get plumbing done too," Sarah explained.
"After that we then came downstairs and we did a big rear extension to create a new open-plan kitchen, dining and living space." But their plans were halted and budget stretched when the Coronavirus pandemic hit.
"In the middle of all this we had Covid so of course so it was difficult to get materials and the prices of everything went sky high. We had a budget but the budget was going crazy," Sarah said.
"We had to kind of rein it in a bit by looking around at auction houses. We bought the whole bathroom suite downstairs from an auction house for a couple of thousand, whereas it would probably be about £10,000 brand new."
Sarah added: "We had to be very savvy, as we had to add about 10 to 20 percent on top of what we thought it would cost because prices were just escalating. Everybody was charging a premium because everybody was doing the houses up."
"It was also quite hard living there whilst renovating, especially when we got rid of the existing kitchen. We were living off toasties and takeaways. We just kept reminding ourselves that it was only short term."
The pair finally finished renovating their home in June last year. "Getting the extension done and putting the kitchen in probably took around nine months to a year in itself.
"We've done everything we can ourselves, it's been a big project and quite tearful at times. But we had a vision for it and we followed through with it."
The couple put their beloved house on the market this month for £775,000 as they're now ready for a new project, and want someone else to be able to enjoy living in the space they've created.
"One of our older children has moved out and it's a big house, and we're now just ready for another project," Sarah said. "It could be suitable for a growing family or someone of an older generation who has lots of visitors. It could also be ideal for people who work from home.
'We'll be very sad to sell it because we've put a lot of effort, love, sweat, and tears into it - but that's all part of renovating. We like to pass a nice house onto somebody else so that they can enjoy it."
Spanning more than 2,300 square foot, the house has a spacious hallway leading to a large kitchen dining area which opens into a snug lounge with a feature wood burner. Bi-fold doors from the kitchen lead out into the rear garden which wraps around the property on two sides, with a partly covered sun deck area with a hot tub.
There is also a separate utility room, storage room and bay fronted living room with a media wall and patio doors leading out to the rear terrace.
The main bedroom suite sits on the ground floor, featuring a bay window, panelling and fitted wardrobes, as well as a luxury ensuite bathroom with a large walk-in shower and freestanding bath. There are two further double bedrooms on the ground floor, one currently used as a home office.
Stairs in the hallway lead up to the first floor, where there are two double bedroom suites that mirror each other with Velux windows, ensuite shower rooms, walk in wardrobe and snug areas.
Outside there is driveway parking to the front for multiple vehicles, a detached single garage with electric doors and electric gates on entry to the home for privacy and security.
Nikki Davies Estate Agents, who is marketing the property, says: "This is a bespoke designed contemporary detached home, beautifully renovated to the highest standard with no expense spared.
"The epitome of luxury living and set back from the road with a gated entrance; this immaculate property is conveniently located for Rose Hill Primary school and a short walk from the centre of Marple where you will find a superb selection of shops, bars and eateries.
"Marple is one of those 'best of both worlds' locations. Close enough to the city and transport links for commuters yet sits on the edge of the Peak District with the countryside on the doorstep.
"In our view, this exceptional home is ideal for anyone looking for a turnkey property close to a host of local amenities, reputable schools and public transport."
You can view more of the property on the listing here. If you are interested in a viewing, contact eXp quoting reference ND0151.
