Bridge House - a Gamble and a Mystery

 

I was scrolling through marketplace (as you do) when I saw the ugliest, saddest house I've ever seen but there was something about it that drew my eye and made me look closer. No matter how often or how closely I examined the photographs I couldn't decide if it was a worth while purchase or not. It was £30 and not far from my son's house in Bridgend, so in the end I asked him to collect it for me.

When I went to collect it from him I wondered why on earth I had bothered but getting it home, giving it a good clean I began to like it better. It was filthy, the photo is the water after the first wash down of the exterior. The inside, although very grubby, was quite sweet. It had a 1930's feel, nice fireplaces, stylish sliding doors I'd never seen before, and old light fittings. It reminded me of a Lines house but the front windows and balcony with its garish pink columns said 'NO' in no uncertain terms.

I stripped the torn roof paper and discovered a nice black roof with the tiles etched into the board. I waxed the roof, painted the base black and waxed that too to give it extra protection and a nice gleam. The chimney's (and as I later discovered the rest of the exterior) was painted bottle green. Wanting to keep some of its history from every era, I left the papered side walls as they were but I stripped the front and discovered a date 1936 etched into the wood. Ha ha! I began to suspect my instinct had been right but it was still dead ugly even with the front doors on the wrong way round (see pic below)! 

I left the interior intact, adding light shades and curtains and mantle runners to make it pretty. I replaced the nasty carpet in the upper hall for paper floorboards and gave the bannisters a lick of paint.

The front of the house was a different matter. I didn't like it at all. the balcony railing was made of some thin hardboard that had become misshapen over the years and the windows were ugly. I commissioned my helper, John, to make new ones while I painted the front of the house and chimneys a light grey and took out the windows, cleaned up the glass. 

Then I took the house fronts up the shed and gave them a light sand. I immediately liked it better, the sanded back paint gave the house an air of elegant neglect. I left areas of pink, the pale green that was below that and small areas of wood. then I mixed up some chalk paint to match the columns and repainted the front door. When the window frames were finished, I painted them in the same way, with hints of pink to tie in with the pink remaining on the columns. Then I purchased some balustrade and painted them the same.

I still don't know who built the house. I don't think it was Lines but it was similar era so perhaps someone made it for their daughter to resemble a Lines house. I don't mind not knowing. I am just glad to have restored it to its former glory. Nobody but me would have paid money for this house, it was destined for the tip as so many are. Each time I look at it, I am filled with satisfaction at another house saved. And now, I am casting around for the next project.