George Clarke's had his breath well and truly taken during the latest episode of his second series of George Clarke's Remarkable Renovations that aired this evening.
When young couple Morveth and Abi Ward from Cornwall decided to take on a 110-year-old derelict Edwardian electrical substation that had been abandoned for 70 years and transform it into a rustic, carbon-neutral three-bedroom home and idyllic retreat, he thought they were absolutely "mad".
"It’s a really difficult building to convert, in an exposed moorland location that’s battered by wind and rain, and surrounded by ugly pylons," George tells the pair. "The fact that you can actually envisage living here really is remarkable."
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However, George is taken aback when the development manager and Abi, a trade and investment manager, both in their 30s, who live by the motto "you only live once", manage to turn the once "very wet and very very damp" old tower in a "beautifully designed haven" - complete with a hot tub made out of the towers' old water tank.
Throughout the course of the series - architect and TV presenter, George Clarke, will follow the stories of five incredible restorations by determined people from across the country.
Piling all their savings together, the episode sees Cornwall natives Abi and Morveth buy the building, which offers views of the county’s north and south coasts, they have admired and pined after for so many years along with one acre of land from local farmers for £110,000.
"As soon as we stepped in here, we could easily visualise it as a home," says Abi, with excitement. Seemingly not convinced, George says: "You are mad. You are definitely mad. If you can do that, you have better vision than I have got."
And this purchase isn't just a house for the pair, who had been together for nine years at the start of their journey in 2019. Having grown up around the area, Morveth tells George he has a more personal connection to the weather-beaten building.
"I probably shouldn't reveal this but we were naughty little boys and we used to sneak in here. It does feel surreal when I look back through the history, but it is great having that history with the building."
He adds: "‘Even then, it was completely stripped out, abandoned and had been exposed to the elements for decades. It was just a shell, and was damp-streaked inside, but it had kept its architectural integrity."
But the soon-to-be house was made even more special, when the pair decided to get married just a few weeks before the end of the renovation. Telling George the news as they were discussing their budget predictions by the end, George says: "Crikey, you're taking everything on!"
Built in 1910 in the village of Nancledra, which is located three miles away from popular beach town St Ives, the 12metre tower once provided power to local tin mines and towns. It was manned everyday until the 1950s, when the system automated and pylons began being installed.
These pylons, however, were one element that stuck out like a sore thumb but the couple soon solved the issue and planned on decluttering the pylons and overhead lines with the help of a local utility company - a solution that set them back £40,000.
With a family home in mind, the towers current structure didn't bode well for the couple's creative ideas. So, their plans involved adding another level to the tower, as well as building a two-storey modern extension to the back and a smaller extension to the front, connecting the original building to the new additions by glass panelling.
Another creative idea from Morveth was that of a statement glass panel on the ceiling of the ground floor, under which Abi and Morveth could stand and see straight to the top of their new house and into the sky with a stunning skylight.
"I love the idea of being a tower and being able to see from top to bottom and getting that impression of height." says Morveth.
When asked if the pair, who during the renovation lived in a caravan on site, would make it a complete contrast to the old building, Morveth says: "That's the point. We didn't want the two things to be mistaken. We wanted the original building to be unmistakeably the original building and then the extension clearly the new extension, which is why we've got the glass link as well, so it separates even more."
Two and a half years on, George visits the couple to see how the renovation - that "doesn't get much harder than this" - of the tower, which needed a complete overhaul with new floors, flooring, wall insulation - as well as electricity (solar panels) and a water pump installed - was going. What he was met with was an utterly stunning haven of history and rustic magnificence that simply took his breath away.
"What a transformation that is," he told them. "Just look how light and bright it is. It's just beautifully done. It's kind of taken my breath away, to be honest with you."
With beautiful light shining through the entire building thanks to the glass panelling between the old building and new extensions, ivory walls, the building has been utterly transformed from a once "damp, dark, depressed" and dingy tower to a sparkling, rustic family home that preserves its amazing history.
George says, marvelling at the beautiful interior: "Before it was quite a claustrophobic dark box, and now it's the most incredible series of spaces".
But the piece de resistance that stunned George completely was the stunning ceiling feature giving people a window to the higher levels and sky - a big architectural move the 48-year-old host dubbed as a spark of architectural genius design.
"To be able to sit here and look all the way through and see the first floor, then your mezzanine level above and then a skylight at the very top, which is the same shape and size as this - you can actually see the clouds and the blue sky." And the way the pair have decorated the house matches its incredibly beautiful journey.
And one perfect addition to their new home was a wedding present from George himself, a framed picture depicting a quote by Arthur Bruce Caddick, Poet Laureate of West Cornwall, which said: "I suppose the substation might be described as a glorified fuse box."
Keeping in line with the tower's past, the interior design of the house, in particular the kitchen-diner, pays homage to the tower's tin-industry past with stunning features from the trade in their light switches and bulb-holders.
"When you take on something this unique, and this quirky, you've just gotta go with it," says George to the couple.
But now, after such a long time, how do the newlyweds feel of putting their souls into this renovation?
Abi says: "It has been a really long journey and we have invested our whole selves into this build. We've put all of our energy into it. I think we can both proudly say that we gave it everything that we had. Physically, emotionally, mentally..."
Morveth adds: "It has also been really fun and super rewarding as well."
Of the financial toll this took on the couple, who initially sought to spend £250,000 on the renovation, putting their savings into it as well as selling another property to move into the caravan on the tower's site, the pair reveal they went over by £100,000. But say that thanks to the property market boom soon after they left their old house, it wasn't any additional pressure.
Abi adds: "I feel incredibly blessed to have this place."
And now their project of turning the tower in their forever home is over, the pair laugh: "I don't know what we're going to do with our time now!"
George Clarke's Remarkable Renovations airs at 9pm on Channel 4 on Wednesdays. It will be available to watch straight after on All4. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
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