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Joanne Ridout

Charlotte Church's Dream Build: Singer says she never wants to work this hard again

Anyone who has ever taken on a life-changing building renovation will be able to relate to the rollercoaster of stress that a huge project can bring someone going through the process.

And in the final episode of the Really Channel and discovery+ programme Charlotte Church's Dream Build, the stress is really mounting on the Welsh singer-songwriter.

The series charts the progress of the renovation of iconic designer Laura Ashley's former Powys home Rhydoldog House over a nine month period.

READ MORE: The Welsh buildings in danger of being lost forever

Charlotte bought Rhydoldog House for £1.5m as a renovation project, and is sinking her life savings into the property and land with the dream of changing the mansion from a dwelling into a health and wellbeing nature retreat.

The aim at the beginning of the series was for the business to be open, at least partially, by June 2022.

But in December 2021 Charlotte hit 'the wall' - a stage in a major renovation project that many talk about, when things are not progressing at the speed desired, money is flowing out relentlessly and the person in charge is getting pulled in all directions.

Charlotte says: "It's been a long old year, it's been a really long year, I'm going to be so glad when this year is done.

"I certainly never want to work this hard again - it's been so, so much and there have been times when I've just been like, 'oh gosh, I think this is what a nervous breakdown feels like, I feel my nerves feel so frazzled - like totally empty tank.

Charlotte Church is very honest about how stressful the renovation of Rhydoldog House has been so far (Really Channel/Koska Productions/Discovery Communications)

"And then that's just rationalising work commitments and what's important and what's important to me more than anything else is to be a good mother and to raise my babies right.

"But also to do all of the self-development that I want to do, to really learn to be a sound healer and facilitator of other people's healing and healing journeys, so that's going to require some time dedication and at the moment I just don't have that because literally I'm just pulled from pillar to post constantly."

Building a platform and changing area by nature's best shower experience - a waterfall (Really Channel/Koska Productions/Discovery Communications)

But there is progress inside and out at Rhydoldog to hopefully lift Charlotte's spirits, including the carpenters building a fabulous deck and changing area by one of the mansion's stunning, natural waterfalls.

Charlotte is rightly overjoyed to see the finished result, offering future guests a chance to shower under a waterfall, that she equates to like a scene from a Timotei shampoo advert.

Finished three bed dorm on the second floor includes cloth drapes for each bed (Really Channel/Koska Productions/Discovery Communications)

The second floor dorm bedroom and ensuite are finished and are furnished and finessed by Charlotte's interior designer Sarah, who creates a nature based sanctuary in the three bed dorm.

Sarah says: "Everything is natural and recycled so there's nothing new here, it's like being in an oasis in the middle of Wales - a retreat, which is exactly what it's supposed to be."

An oasis of calm in the dorm bedroom (Really Channel/Koska Productions/Discovery Communications)

The ensuite has a Moroccan theme but happily invites timeless design into the space such as the roll-top bath and huge metallic mirror, a sanctuary for relaxing with the backdrop of stunning integrated lighting within each carved hole in the walls either side of the window.

Moroccan style ensuite (Really Channel/Koska Productions/Discovery Communications)

And some relaxing baths are going to be needed after Storm Arwen hits the estate, with the amount of trees that have come down described as 'colossal'.

This includes one huge tree being blown over right in front of the house but luckily not hitting it, although it did land on some of the volunteers' tents but they were not sleeping in them at the time because of the storm.

Storm Arwen sees many tree casualties at Rhydoldog House (Really Channel/Koska Productions/Discovery Communications)

Charlotte brings her usual positivity to the scene, already putting her creative recycling ideas into action thinking of uses for the downed tree on the front lawn, including using the base section as part of the dining table and leaving the lower section exactly where it is.

But she does wonder about when it happened.

She says: "There is definitely something symbolic about all of these trees coming down and what's happening here and things have been quite tumultuous, somebody is trying to tell me something, I've just got to be quiet and still enough, for long enough, to hear what it is."

The series ends with an emotional reveal of the three bed dorm and its Moroccan-style ensuite which Charlotte absolutely adores, especially seeing some of her grand design ideas in reality and that they have visually worked to her approval.

Other challenges conquered and revealed as triumphs include the ground floor extension transformed into a huge commercial kitchen that can easily cope with feeding the retreat's guests, plus removing some internal walls to make a sizable dining room, still a work in progress.

Vintage Laura Ashley print for the walls in the history room (Really Channel/Koska Productions/Discovery Communications)

The first floor over the nine months of the series has had first fix electrics and the walls are ready to be plasterboarded.

In the history room the Laura Ashley company has supplied a vintage design from the famous designer's past collection that Charlotte is going to use on all the walls.

But there are still moments of worry.

Charlotte says: "Because I haven't even started business planning, I don't know who's going to run the place - I need to find people.

"And when you couple that with the forestry work that we really want to happen and some of the perma-culture stuff that we want to go on - implementing all of Juliet's plans - that's going to take a little bit longer because it's a long, hard winter up here. I've got so much to do!"

Masonry balconies replaced with wood for a more natural look (Really Channel/Koska Productions/Discovery Communications)

Charlotte's husband Johnny expresses his worry at the relentless year she has experienced.

He says: "She has literally not stopped working for the last year, she hasn't had a break and you are running on fumes at the moment, and you need to park up and rest."

Charlotte reflects on what has happened and what is to come on this renovation rollercoaster ride.

Front patio completed (Really Channel/Koska Productions/Discovery Communications)

She says: "The start of this project - the naivety, the hope, the dreams that I had at the beginning just seem very... um, I feel a lot older and I feel a bit more jaded, just because I do feel like it's taken a lot out of me and I am really learning at a rate of knots.

"I do feel like it's been a slog, it hasn't all been fairies and daisies and woodland walks, I think it's been a bit of a slog for me."

But throughout the journey Charlotte had kept in mind the purpose of why she is doing this and the worth of the end outcome, whenever that may come.

Charlotte and Johnny take a moment at the waterfall to contemplate what she and the team have achieved and what is to come (Really Channel/Koska Productions/Discovery Communications)

But before the retreat can open next summer there is still so much to do inside and out, including planning and construction of the woodland log cabins, the staircase construction and installation, and of course, the vital planning permission for change of use for the main house.

Charlotte says: "We are creating something really special here with some really amazing people and whether we like it or not, it is a healing journey already and sometimes it's very challenging and it's confrontational but it's also a complete privilege."

The final episode of Charlotte Church's Dream Build started can be seen on Discovery's Really channel on Tuesday, March 1 at 9pm.

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