Loads and loads of you, my faithful readers, have asked if there are new pictures of Ashpile. Well rest assured, I have badgered Helen on the subject and I hope there will be some new things to see soon! Lots of things have been completed now, so here's hoping for some new pix for our delight and delectation!
In their infinite wisdom, Helen and Philip decided to take on a "bit of a challenge" for their second home together (having purchased a brand new home the first time around so they wouldn't have to do ANY work whatsoever!).
The house they have purchased is "post-combustion" -- in other words it caught fire prior to it being put on the market!
So here are the photographs that Helen has taken, roughly in chronological order, along with her accompanying comments. Enjoy the transformation! Oooo and aaaahh over the rise from the ashes ....
Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present Ashpile.
25th June 2001
This was the day Helen & Phil picked up the keys. Helen took the following series of photographs for posterity ....
 |
 |
|
The Front. Not much to look at eh? Well we have vision and determination and you're not going to believe how different this will look in 6 weeks. |
The Fireplace. This is where the fire started, above the fireplace you can see where the previous owner had a picture or mirror, the frame of which has scorched the plaster. For the record, all of the plaster in this room is going, as are the ceiling, floor, radiators and windows. |
|
 |
 |
|
The Kitchen (Stove). This room, much like the bathroom was just awful, there must have been about 15 years worth of grease on the stove top alone! It was a gas stove and where the burners were recessed into the top, the grease was level |
The Kitchen (Cupboards). Gee, I don't think I have ever seen a kitchen in quite such an awful mess, and to make matters worse the previous owner had a 'thing' for kitchen roll and toilet roll, it was everywhere, all torn and dried to the radiators, the floor, the (un)sanitaryware ... yuck! | |
 |
 |
|
The Front Bedroom. This room has a fabulous view, and a *big* leak in the roof, that's why there is a plant trough on the window sill, although this is full of toilet roll ... OK that's enough, I'm feeling queasy again! There is a pane of glass missing from one of the windows in this room, Philip and I were wondering where the cupboard door had gone, then we noticed the handle on the board over the window .. question answered! |
||
 |
 |
|
The Back Bedroom. This room was pretty badly smoke damaged as the water tank in the cupboard had caused a lot of condensation in the heat of the fire, you can see the runs in the soot on the wall. This will be a real struggle to get clean. |
Bathroom. One of the first jobs was to sort the bathroom out, it wasn't burned, just absolutely filthy. I couldn't go in there without gagging, so the sink and toilet were removed pretty quickly, the bath on the other hand wasn't such an easy task, it was cast iron. I had a deal with Malcolm (who is managing the whole project for us) that if he carried the bath downstairs on his back, I would clean the stove ... needless to say the bath got smashed up in situ and the stove went in the skip!! |
|
 |
 |
|
The Back Garden. Oh dear ... Ronnie (who re-piped our heating) kept telling me he could see herds of elephants out there, I was starting to believe him too! |
The Views. We set up our deckchairs and cool box in the room with these views, I don't need to tell you why! |
|
 |
 |
|
View the series of pictures here:
