First Viewing of the property

Having set up search parameters on Zoopla, we were notified about the sale of North Corn Park and arranged with the estate agents to attend the open viewing.

Sneaking off work early on a Friday afternoon, we drove up the A1 only get stuck in a huge traffic jam caused by an accident. We didn’t think we would make it in time (and nearly turned back to Nottingham), but several other interested parties were also late arriving due to the traffic so the viewings were running late luckily for us!

Even the rain had stopped when we arrived at the property, and joined the line of cars parked on the driveway. Walking up the field to the house, we were both grinning from ear to ear the stressful journey already forgotten. Pausing halfway up the hill, we turned around and were stunned by the view North and the peace and quiet. Continuing up to the house, there were a couple of dozen people walking around inspecting the house and numerous outbuildings.

The agents were short on time, so we only had a quick look around inside the building and larger barns. The property had been advertised as “in need of refurbishment”, but that was something of an understatement. The only form of heating were coal fires, there was no bathroom or toilet, and the roof had several large holes that had been letting in the weather for several months. Due to water ingress, the interior was very damp and much of the timber floor was decayed and infested with wood worm.

Outside, the property had a total of 13 sheds and barns left over from its days as a poultry farm, in various states of disrepair, and a stone outbuilding that housed the composting toilet. The house we were informed, had no mains water or gas, and a septic tank for drainage (although this later turned out not to be the case).

We wanted more time to look around, so although the estate agent had to lock up and leave the property he agreed that we could continue to view the property outside on our own. There were still several other people around, so we decided to “research” the local pub and come back later. After a very tasty fish and chips at the Fox and Hounds in Cotherstone, we returned to the property and were pleased to see that we had the place to ourselves.

The property was even quieter now, and we stood and just enjoyed the view for several minutes. It was by far the most suitable property we had viewed, and ticked most of the boxes on our wish list.

Over hearing snippets of other viewer’s conversations, we could tell many people were daunted by the amount of work the property needed.

We certainly weren’t, it was just what we were looking for!