A couple who bought an abandoned caravan park for £90k in a bid to live mortgage-free say they have no regrets - despite having had no water for two months. Jon and Emilie James, 33 and 34, moved into the three-acre site in Llanelli in June last year after selling their home for £132k.
The pair - both wedding photographers - had £79k left after paying off their mortgage, which they combined with £11k of savings to buy the park. Their ambition is to live "within their means" and eventually to turn it into a countryside retreat, with the first cabin slated to be finished in August. But the journey hasn't been straightforward - with the colder months proving tough after the water at the park failed, leaving them forced to join a gym to shower.
Emilie said: "Winter was hard. All our water pipes froze so we had no water for two months. We joined our local gym to be able to shower.
"But it has really made us realise how little we actually need to be happy. The shower issue was the only really bad thing about the whole experience.
"Everyone has been really supportive about the work we’ve done. When friends and family come round, they don’t quite realise we live in a massive field."
The couple have only spent £3k on a shipping container and £4k on a chassis for a caravan since their initial outlay. They have cleaned up the site, which was previously used by coal miners and fell into disrepair after closing in 1989, and are beginning work on building three black Scandinavian bungalows. They will live in one and rent out the other two.
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Emilie said: "When we moved to the plot there were just three caravans filled to the brim with rubbish. Locals used to live here whose family members would work down the mines and they are very excited to have the land tidied up.”
Jon grew up in Llandovery, about 30 miles from Llanelli. But all his family are from the Gwendraeth valley near where they bought the land - and have lived there for generations.
They are delighted that Jon and Emilie have given a new lease of life to the culturally significant plot. The first cabin the pair are building will hopefully be completed by August of this year and they also plan to open a glamping site on the land around that time.
Emilie said: "The two other cabins will be completed next year once we have saved up enough money from our day jobs to build them."
The couple are documenting their project on their YouTube channel CampOutWest.
