A couple have embarked on a mission to transform a rundown farmhouse into a welcoming home before Christmas for a new TV programme.
Matthew Robinson, 49, and Michelle Griffith-Robinson, 51, fell in love with a Grade II property in Monmouthshire, Wales, after spotting it on Rightmove.
Straight away, the farmhouse proved to be a challenge as it had stood empty for a while and was full of damp, had leaking chimneys, no working electrics, and rotten walls.
But Matt, a former Welsh and Swansea international rugby union player, and his wife Michelle, who represented Great Britain in the 1996 Olympic Games as well as three Commonwealth Games, were so smitten that they did not give up and started working on the renovation project straight away.
With the help of several local firms, Matt and Michelle are now completing the renovation of the kitchen and told The Mirror they hope to host a Christmas dinner with their family in their new home this year.
Matt said: "The kitchen is the key bit that we are undertaking at the moment in order to get in and make sure we are in there."
He added Terence Ball Kitchens, a company based in Somerset, will supply the kitchen, including a cooker and fridge freezer from Italian brand Bertazonni. The kitchen will also include Miele domestic appliances.
Mandarin Stone will look after worktops and provide tiles for the kitchen and utility area, said Matt, who went to school with one of the managers of the company.
Matt said Country Boiler Services - a company specialising in the supply, installation and maintenance of oil boilers - did a "whole revamp" of the plumbing system.
The engineer who did the work had already worked on the original system so he knew the property, added Matt.
Local company Thomas Brown Electrical did a complete rewire and John Edwards looked after lime plastering.
Matt and Michelle are now looking for a company that can provide them with wood fuel burners as well as traditional radiators that they are hoping to install in the new year.
When they understood the renovation was "quite a difficult project", the couple were also helped by BMW UK.
The company gave Matt and Michelle a car for three months to allow them to travel to the farmhouse as their vehicle was not able to commute regularly from their current home.
The huge renovation project is one of the subjects of Channel 4's new daytime property show, Renovation Nation, which follows people around the UK as they transform crumbling period properties.
Matt and Michelle, who have three children, Reese, 19, Eden, 15 and Elijah, nine, are determined to do things right and hope the renovation will be completed in the next two years.
Once the kitchen is done, the family will move on to renovate the dining room and create an office space for Matt, as well as new windows.
Matt said: "I think to do the whole place we are looking at probably another couple of years, but with a little bit of luck, once the kitchen is done, we will be moving along to get the windows sorted across the whole of the house. We have a great local company doing that for us.
"Once all of that is completed, we will be nearly enough there."
In terms of price, Matt said they are just slightly over budget but he expects the total cost to be close to what the couple wanted to spend.
Talking about the moment they began their project 15 months ago, Matt told Wales Online : "The house was riddled with damp so we took all the ceilings down, treated every beam, there's new padstones, new oak in for support. We took out the old joists where needed and added new ones where needed - the list goes on and on - we've got a whole new first floor.
"We were very lucky in the roof space, the woodwork up there was pretty good, but we treated it anyway. Doing it this way we also get to see what was there before, the original building.
"There were so many infills, old hidden windows and doorways, features we have uncovered which will look lovely but also tell their own story."
He added: "In a year and three months we have gutted the house, there's completely new heating, rewired, new floors, it's fully treated and secure, new exterior, new ground floor interiors - to get to that point in that time I think is a magnificent achievement."
Michelle said: "We are very much on paying it forward, and that's how we've lived and how we've managed to be where we are today.
"We look out for others and we try and do our very best and try to be role models, so if there's another Black couple out there to help them think they too can have a Grade II listed property."
Matt added: "It feels like home and I have a sense she will give us so much back.
"She's already beginning to do it - the roof was ok, the woodwork that is now sorted will be ok, the original flooring will be ok once sealed, and we found the hidden vaulted space that is absolutely stunning.
"She had absolutely no reason to give us all of that, but it's like she is saying 'if you look after me, I'll give you back some golden gems'."
Both Michelle and Matt feel grateful for the support they have received and said they would have not been able to get where they are now without the help of local companies, friends and relatives.
Matt told The Mirror: "It is a big house, a big project, and in essence the support we got from family and friends is a real benefit to us."
Renovation Nation is on Channel 4 on weekdays at 4pm, and available on for catch up on All4.
