"I transformed a Victorian workhouse into million pound homes while living in a caravan"

Now, the site has been transformed into six unique homes.Two have already been sold, Wayne lives in one, another is nearing completion, and the final two – The Grange and The Old Grain House – have just been listed for sale at £1.475m and £1.275m.

Builder Wayne bought the site four years ago but says he’d already spotted it on the market a few years earlier. “I wasn’t in a position to buy it then but it fell back into my lap again,” he says.

“The land was overgrown and needed a bit of love to bring it back to life. At the back of all the mess I could just see it had the potential to be an amazing building.”

Wayne and his wife, Michelle, sold their home in the nearby village of Green Hammerton to buy the development site and they lived in a caravan with their teenage daughter for two years while the first phase of work was carried out.

The family now lives in one of the finished properties with a view to moving into the final property once it is completed. “We’re not just developers, we’re neighbours as well,” says Wayne.

It’s been an intense four years with a team of people working seven days a week to complete the project.

The buildings themselves were structurally sound but everything needed stripping back and starting from scratch.

Financially, the project suffered from the aftermath of Covid, with the rising cost of materials, interest rate hikes and wage increases.

The development is the biggest Wayne has completed to date after cutting his teeth on extensions, new builds and barn conversions. “I’ve been working my way up to the bigger jobs. As my experience has grown, the jobs have grown too,” he says.

The Grange and The Old Grain House include many original features, such as brick arches, daylight tunnels and high ceilings throughout.

Harriet Naish-Bain, associate director at estate agent GSC Grays, says: “The developers have cleverly retained many of the building’s original features, adding real character and individuality. The way they’ve combined these with high-quality bespoke interiors is seamless and the result is truly unique.”

The Grange is a five bedroom home featuring an impressive reception hall, boot room with built-in wardrobes, storage and exposed brick wall. To the side of the reception hallway is the utility room and an opening that leads to the eye catching living-dining-kitchen.

A large inglenook fireplace has been created with brick reveals and slate and brick hearth and there is an wood-burning stove, shaker-style units, large Aga and timber breakfast bar area.

Directly opposite the living-dining-kitchen is a snug or study with its own external entrance door. The sitting room has three original side windows overlooking the garden.

The original staircase leads to the five bedrooms with one including a slipper bath. The house bathroom also features a slipper bath and another bedroom has its own shower room.

Outside, the garden room with oak-framed porch is multi-functional with stone steps leading to a block paved path that curves through the lawned garden area to the front door. To the rear of the property is a paved patio with gravelled area, raised beds and mature planning.

The Old Grain House features a reception hall/boot room with fitted storage cupboards and stone flag flooring with underfloor heating. An exposed brick archway leads to an open plan living-dining-kitchen with stone fire surround and hearth inset wood burning stove.

The kitchen with arched storage was built by the Main Company and includes a large central island and an Aga. A door leads from the kitchen-living area to a patio.

On the opposite side of the living-dining-kitchen is the sitting room with Victorian style panelling and reclaimed barn oak timber flooring along with a reception room, which could be a playroom, while a further room could be used as a study.

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The original staircase leads to brick feature arches and stunning roof light and the five bedrooms, two with ensuite shower rooms and a house bathroom with free-standing slipper bath and separate shower cubicle.

The property is approached via gravelled driveway and leads to the double oak-framed car-port and single garage and garden room. A large, paved patio provides an area for seating and entertaining and stone steps lead up to a block paved path and lawned garden area.

"We wanted to create six amazing individual properties and that’s what we’ve done. From when we bought the site to now it’s completely transformed,” says Wayne.

The Grange and The Old Grain House are on the market for £1.475m and £1.275m with GSC Grays gscgrays.co.uk