Rent-a-mill: Couple earns £100,000 a year letting their seven-bedroom …
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Rent-a-mill: Couple earns £100,000 a year letting their seven-bedroom Old Mill home out to holidaymakersGary and Sandra Coyne upped sticks and moved into a derelict windmillAfter seven years in The Old Mill they couple now make £100,000 a year renting it out to holidaymakers By
Published: 22:01 BST, 3 November 2012 | Updated: 23:56 BST, 3 November 2012
Gary and Sandra Coyne both had good jobs, a house in a desirable area and a comfortable lifestyle.
So what made them exchange all that for the chaos that comes with renovating an old property - and sharing it with live-in builders?
The answer is a derelict windmill in Stoke Ferry near King's Lynn, Norfolk, which Gary spotted while browsing the internet.
At the time the Coynes had not even decided to move from their home in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, let alone relocate to Norfolk.
But Gary, who had been working as a restaurant manager in London, fancied a change of pace and the couple could see the benefits of having more space for their five-year-old twins Louis and Rory.
Change of pace: Sandra and Gary Coyne fell in love with The Old Mill in Stoke Ferry and decided to do it up to live a rural life
For Sandra, 44, an air hostess based at Heathrow, moving to Norfolk presented the prospect of a very long commute.
However, after visiting the property just once, the couple fell in love with it, and in 2005 they bought The Old Mill, complete with two-and-half acres of land, for £315,000.
The property comprises a mill house and an adjoining Grade II listed tower.
Both needed a lot of updating - especially the tower, which hadn't been used for nearly 100 years except by nesting birds.
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To complicate matters further, the Coynes' house in Gerrards Cross took a long time to sell, which meant the couple had to borrow the deposit for the mill and rent their old home until they found a buyer.
During one stage of the building work at their new property, the Coynes found themselves living in the four-bedroom mill house with their builders.
The team knocked out walls to transform four small rooms into a large open-plan kitchen and living space. New bathrooms were also added.
The Coynes did not have a kitchen for three months, so meals were cooked on a camping stove, and the dishes were rinsed in the shower.
As a tidy person, Sandra hated the chaos of living with builders, and confesses she was unprepared for all the upheaval.
Renovated: The Coynes in their living room, complete with the old millstone
Gary, 47, who gave up his restaurant job, did as much of the work as he could himself, including removing all the windows to repair broken panes before refitting them.
But when a firm came to sandblast the interior walls to take them back to the original Victorian red brick, they failed to cover the windows, destroying all Gary's hard work.
The tower's ground floor has now been turned into a formal dining room with a circular table.
The floor above is a games room and there are bedrooms on the next three floors. The final two floors have been transformed into a gallery with views over the surrounding countryside. The ground-floor dining room has underfloor heating, but the tower's listed status meant it was not possible to plumb in bathrooms.
Instead, a glass walkway from the first floor of the tower links it to the house and its three bathrooms. In the winter, the upper floors of the tower are heated with plug-in oil radiators.
It took nearly two years, but the work was finished in time for Sandra's 40th birthday party at the end of 2007.
The improvements cost the Coynes about £150,000.
They are delighted with what they've achieved, although Sandra admits there were times when she would have gladly scrapped the entire project. ‘I would remember back to when we lived in Gerrards Cross and had two good salaries, a comfortable house and a settled life, and wondered what on earth we were doing,' she says.
The Coynes soon realised they had the ideal property to rent out and began letting The Old Mill as a holiday home in 2008 when they were away.
Then, in July 2008, Sandra spotted a farmhouse in nearby Boughton. The Coynes raised the money to buy it and moved out of The Old Mill, enabling them to rent it all year round.
The Old Mill, which now has seven bedrooms and three bathrooms and sleeps 15, has proved a big hit as a holiday let. And with Gary's new private chef service offering holidaymakers gourmet meals, the property earns the couple £100,000 a year.
‘We do everything ourselves - we want everything to be perfect,' says Sandra.
The Old Mill costs from £2,500 a week through holidaylettings.co.uk
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Published: 22:01 BST, 3 November 2012 | Updated: 23:56 BST, 3 November 2012
Gary and Sandra Coyne both had good jobs, a house in a desirable area and a comfortable lifestyle.
So what made them exchange all that for the chaos that comes with renovating an old property - and sharing it with live-in builders?
The answer is a derelict windmill in Stoke Ferry near King's Lynn, Norfolk, which Gary spotted while browsing the internet.
At the time the Coynes had not even decided to move from their home in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, let alone relocate to Norfolk.
But Gary, who had been working as a restaurant manager in London, fancied a change of pace and the couple could see the benefits of having more space for their five-year-old twins Louis and Rory.
Change of pace: Sandra and Gary Coyne fell in love with The Old Mill in Stoke Ferry and decided to do it up to live a rural life
For Sandra, 44, an air hostess based at Heathrow, moving to Norfolk presented the prospect of a very long commute.
However, after visiting the property just once, the couple fell in love with it, and in 2005 they bought The Old Mill, complete with two-and-half acres of land, for £315,000.
The property comprises a mill house and an adjoining Grade II listed tower.
Both needed a lot of updating - especially the tower, which hadn't been used for nearly 100 years except by nesting birds.
RELATED ARTICLES
Share this article
Share
To complicate matters further, the Coynes' house in Gerrards Cross took a long time to sell, which meant the couple had to borrow the deposit for the mill and rent their old home until they found a buyer.
During one stage of the building work at their new property, the Coynes found themselves living in the four-bedroom mill house with their builders.
The team knocked out walls to transform four small rooms into a large open-plan kitchen and living space. New bathrooms were also added.
The Coynes did not have a kitchen for three months, so meals were cooked on a camping stove, and the dishes were rinsed in the shower.
As a tidy person, Sandra hated the chaos of living with builders, and confesses she was unprepared for all the upheaval.
Renovated: The Coynes in their living room, complete with the old millstone
Gary, 47, who gave up his restaurant job, did as much of the work as he could himself, including removing all the windows to repair broken panes before refitting them.
But when a firm came to sandblast the interior walls to take them back to the original Victorian red brick, they failed to cover the windows, destroying all Gary's hard work.
The tower's ground floor has now been turned into a formal dining room with a circular table.
The floor above is a games room and there are bedrooms on the next three floors. The final two floors have been transformed into a gallery with views over the surrounding countryside. The ground-floor dining room has underfloor heating, but the tower's listed status meant it was not possible to plumb in bathrooms.
Instead, a glass walkway from the first floor of the tower links it to the house and its three bathrooms. In the winter, the upper floors of the tower are heated with plug-in oil radiators.
It took nearly two years, but the work was finished in time for Sandra's 40th birthday party at the end of 2007.
The improvements cost the Coynes about £150,000.
They are delighted with what they've achieved, although Sandra admits there were times when she would have gladly scrapped the entire project. ‘I would remember back to when we lived in Gerrards Cross and had two good salaries, a comfortable house and a settled life, and wondered what on earth we were doing,' she says.
The Coynes soon realised they had the ideal property to rent out and began letting The Old Mill as a holiday home in 2008 when they were away.
Then, in July 2008, Sandra spotted a farmhouse in nearby Boughton. The Coynes raised the money to buy it and moved out of The Old Mill, enabling them to rent it all year round.
The Old Mill, which now has seven bedrooms and three bathrooms and sleeps 15, has proved a big hit as a holiday let. And with Gary's new private chef service offering holidaymakers gourmet meals, the property earns the couple £100,000 a year.
‘We do everything ourselves - we want everything to be perfect,' says Sandra.
The Old Mill costs from £2,500 a week through holidaylettings.co.uk
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