Terraced house bought for £5,000 worth almost £2 million after transformation
A man has revealed how he turned an unbelievable profit after doing up a terraced house that he bought for just £5,000 and later put on the market for a whopping £2 million.
Michael Hart had lived in the property in London located in Canary Wharf since the early 80s. A builder and plasterer by trade, he completely refurbished the dilapidated property into a family home, all the while holding down a full-time job and raising his two boys.
Photos show the dramatic change the neighbourhood has undergone in the last four decades, with a grainy snap showing very little in the way of skyscrapers, while more recent shots from the property's roof terrace show the distinctive gleaming glass super structures of Canary Wharf.
Michael Hart standing outside his home in the 80s (Mediadrumimages/Fine&Country/Mic)Inside, Michael has transformed the exquisite four-bedroom Victorian townhouse, which boasts period fixtures including a luxury bathroom with standalone tub.
"It's been my life's work, a real labour of love," Michael said. "When I bought the house I paid £5,500 for it and helped the then-occupant and his wife move to a new property around the corner.
'Invisible' mirror home hits market for $18million – made entirely of glass
"The house had become too much for them and they were happy as Larry in their new place. I gave them an extra £500 to help set them up there too.
One of Michael's sons playing in the house in the midst of its massive overhaul (Mediadrumimages/Fine&Country/Mic)"The first thing I had to do was gut the whole building as it was a bit of a state. I had a young family and was still learning my own trade so that was the hardest part, just getting it to a position where I could start making the home my own.
"With all the plastering and shoring up the basement, it was around six years before it was properly habitable. It was a lot of work and a lot of the time I was testing out skills that I'd never used before. I just moved in and cracked on. Though, nothing else for it. Every penny I earned went back into the house.
How the front of the property looks now (Mediadrumimages/Fine&Country/Mic)"It's all a bit different nowadays even though the extension took a lot out of me - and there's a lot of mates who have helped me out over the years by offering up their skills too. But I'm proud of the house, it's taken me 36 years but everything is the best it can be and I did so much of it by myself."
After living in the property for the vast majority of his adult life, Michael admitted it would be a wrench to leave the home he spent decades labouring over, but that his priorities changed.
The beautifully reappointed bathroom, with a standalone tub (Mediadrumimages/Fine&Country/Mic)"When I first bought the house, there was nothing around here, just a bus to and from the docks every now and again," he recalled. "Bit of a ghost town really. It's funny, now the only way I get to see any sky is by looking directly up! I've spent most of the last 40 years living in, or surrounded by, building sites.
"I've got my grandkids to think about now, I've done all I can do here so it's time to go get a new place in the country somewhere I can get my hands dirty and the kids can run around. I've got to the time in my life where I want a bit of fresh air and a bit of peace."
Michael brought the wooden floors back to life in the living room, which also features an ornate spiral staircase (Mediadrumimages/Fine&Country/Mic)Michael - who was speaking at the time he put the property on the market, in 2019 - added: "You're not going to get that here, it's a hectic pace of life full of bankers and big city types. Different to how it was. It's going to be very hard to leave nonetheless. I did originally have it on the market for £2,500,000 a few years back but Brexit has made the market turbulent.
"I've dropped to £1,800,000 and I won't go a penny below that. The worst case is that I live out the rest of my life in this gorgeous house and that's not so bad is it?"
Abandoned 'Chernobyl-on-Sea' still left derelict after 12 years in the UK
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
