Where as many people might feel daunted when they take on a historic site that needs so much restoration that the building work is likely to stretch across decades and generations, Cathy Wood can't wait to get to the derelict Hafodunos Hall, in the county of Conwy, from the family home near Manchester and keep fighting to bring it back to life.
Instead of feeling dread at the vast mountain of work, time and money needed to save this fire-damaged historic Grade I listed house, Cathy feels pure joy at being the property's custodian, even in its ruinous state.
She says: "There's a drive from Manchester where you come around the bend and start to drive down into a valley and it's that moment, as you turn and see it and shake off the city, just see this vista into the valley, it's hard to explain but I feel it every time I turn round that bend."
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The Wood family are truly captivated by the building that they bought for £390,000 in 2010 and, even currently without a roof, doors and windows, it's not hard to see why - it's bewitching.
The mesmerising Gothic-style country manor house was built between 1861 and 1866 to the design of Sir George Gilbert Scott, one of the UK's most celebrated and influential architects of the time whose other work includes the Albert Memorial and St Pancras Hotel in London.
The majestic and impressive house was designed by Scott for the Sandbach family of Liverpool. It is thought to have replaced an earlier 17th century house, whose staircase was then re-used in the Scott design. The house is the only example of Scott's domestic work in Wales and is said to have cost around £30,000,
The property's historic and architectural pedigree as one of Wales' most prominent and important buildings was confirmed in 1970 when it was awarded a Grade I listing, which is only bestowed on less than 2% of listed buildings in Wales due to being of 'exceptional interest'.
The house is so special it is considered a gem not just in Wales but across the UK. Such is the magnificence of this slice of outstanding Welsh property history the site is literally littered with Grade II listings, including its entrance gates, pillars and railings, entrance lodge, range of farmyard buildings, office block and even the cart shed.
Even the grounds can boast multiple listings. The surrounding parkland and garden were awarded a Grade II listing in 2022 as 'a good example of a nineteenth-century garden with a notable collection of trees and shrubs and incorporating picturesque woodland walks in the neighbouring valleys'.
After the Sandbach family left, the site is said to have had a variety of uses including a boarding school, before being bought by north Wales businessman John Rochelle. But in October 2004 the house suffered a devastating arson attack that led to partial collapse and the loss of much of the treasured internal features.
It is heart-breaking to read the past description on Cadw's website of why the property gained the higher listing level of Grade I in 1970. At that time it was a 'large-scale well-preserved example of domestic architecture in Wales by this important and influential architect, and for surviving sculptural reliefs especially those by John Gibson, a Welsh sculptor of international importance'.
The pain continues with the description of the interior of the Hall that mentions fancy moulded cornices and ceilings, panelled doors, panelled walls, Gothic-style fireplaces, woodwork arches, tiled floors, and a spectacular, sweeping staircase that due to arsonists have all been lost forever.
The two men who started the fire at the hall were caught after fleeing to Spain and are reported to have been sentenced to three years in prison. It is estimated that the blaze took 120 firefighters to control and extinguish the blaze that caused an estimated £8m worth of damage, but the nation lost far more than that - it lost a historical gem.
The house stood eerily empty and forlorn for many years but fate was going to hand it some much needed luck - a chance encounter and oddly timed curiosity that has rewarded it with a family who adore it and are highly motivated to look after it for generations; the Wood family.
An unplanned diversion on a trip to visit family in the area led Richard Wood and his daughter Sophie to stumble across Hafodunos Hall before the fire, and even looking from afar they were captivated by its beauty and its magical surroundings.
Little did they know this enchanting house and its special grounds had already found its way into their subconscious and even after the fire, when it came onto the market in a derelict state, the Wood family snapped it up. Find out more about the sale of the house here.
Cathy, from the Manchester area, says: "Years went by and we forgot all about it and just out of curiosity we looked it up on the internet and it happened to be for sale at that time. We said, 'Are we up for this adventure? We thought, why not?!' People said we were absolutely bonkers!
"We've always been ridiculously motivated and we're passionate about it. It's an utterly magical place, the building is spectacular and the history, the architecture, and the gardens are the most magical places to be and you can't help but be enchanted by it.
"It feels very warm, very friendly, it doesn't feel like one of these dark, dour buildings. The gardens were the best bit for the children who were teenagers at the time we embarked on this adventure, who loved the Lord of the Rings feel and all the 'hobbity bits'."
The couple were excited more than daunted the day they became the new owners of the next chapter of this property's story. They didn't go and pick up the keys from the agent though - there were no keys needed as there were no windows or doors either.
The family wasn't entirely sure what they'd actually bought. Cathy says: "We clambered around a 40 acre estate knowing that we were buying a shell, without a roof, but anything over and above that was a bonus.
"We found a cottage and it was like Sleeping Beauty's place, so overgrown you couldn't even get to it to see inside the window, so we took on a cottage we'd never been inside; there was no key for that either!"
The cottage has now been renovated and restored and the gatehouse lodge is next, and then the servants' wing will be the next slice of renovation and restoration - they are targeting areas that still have a roof and looking at each section of the vast site as a separate project so the overarching task doesn't overwhelm them.
Cathy says: "It's natural to feel daunted, we're just a family with a good support system around us, and we'd be foolhardy not to have those sorts of thoughts, but ultimately you narrow it all down into portions. It would feel too monumental if we didn't do that, so you take a section at a time and work through that and then move on to the next bit.
"We took it on as a 20 year project, probably lost a couple of years here and there waiting for things to come through planning wise, so working on the lodge next is the natural place to start. It's the gatehouse and a smaller version of the hall so it's a good place to test everything.
"But massive amounts of work has gone into the infrastructure, you need access points for big machinery for example, and nobody ever sees that work but it's hundreds and hundreds of hours of work.
"And landscaping, we don't want this building being anywhere near completion and the gardens are an absolute mess, and then there's maintenance that is constantly ongoing, and planning takes up a ridiculous number of hours."
The site now has family members who live permanently and full-time on site, a fantastic local farmer who acts as an estate manager, there are cameras everywhere, and the peacocks make fantastic guardians.
Cathy says: "We do actually want to share it with people, but safely, so we have open days with teas, cakes and garden tours. We're not being selfish and greedy with it, but we're being practical, to share it only sometimes because it's not safe - if we have someone go inside the building they need to wear protection and be very aware."
The family have been tackling the restoration of the site while still working, Richard as a dentist and Cathy as an entrepreneur but slowly the house is taking up more time, and Sophie has left her full-time job in Manchester to dedicate to the house, garden and renovations, as well as organising and running fundraising events at the site.
Cathy says: "We're going slow, we're going carefully, as we move over more and more full-time, the progress increases. And alongside all of that we try to do bits of fundraising, even putting on an event like the upcoming Halloween event at the weekend, and that takes lots of planning and weeks and weeks of work, and volunteers to help."
When the couple first bought the property Cathy says there was quite a bit of funding available but that this has significantly diminished, so they are always looking for ideas as income streams because the house will one day have to pay its way but, as with the restoration, they are being thoughtful and careful.
Cathy says: "We are very mindful and careful. Until last year most of our open days have been for charity and then we thought maybe we should do some events to contribute towards the roof. So our aim is for four open days next year and a couple of charity ones too."
Maybe the family will at some point add subtle holiday accommodation on the site somewhere to tap into staycations, subject to planning, and appropriate events in the grounds too.
Cathy says: "We are really conscious of not having an impact on our local village and we don't want to spoil that environment but we'd love the building to get good use, so the events won't be rock festivals, more like gentle and sensitive events.
"The garden lends itself as a natural amphitheatre so could stage singing, classical events, opera, things like that. But it does depend if it will be acceptable to the village and the council, we have no set in stone specifics, but I'd love to do weddings here."
The couple don't think the house is big enough to pay its way as a hotel so they are considering one day living within an apartment inside, and the grounds and the downstairs rooms could then be used for events and weddings.
But that day might never come as Cathy says: "I'm not sure it will get to completion within Rick and mine's lifetime but the kids will just carry on with it."
And that's because Hafodunos Hall has weaved itself into the generations of this tenacious family, and the house couldn't have found more motivated and positive owners that will keep going at it, through the generations, until it is finished - all done with impressive positivity.
Cathy says: "It lost its roof, it lost lots of the wooden features inside the house, it lost its spectacular staircase, however the fire eliminated most of the dry rot; there's always a silver lining and our cups are always half full!
"That's not to say that it isn't physically hard work, sometimes it's stressful, it's complicated but it doesn't feel like a job, it's more like, 'ok next step, next stage'.
"Sometimes we do wake up at 4am, bolt upright, and think 'oh my god!', and we would be crazy if we didn't have those moments, but when you sit out on a summer evening with a glass of wine looking at the most beautiful environment you could wish for, it kind of makes it so worth it."
The Halloween event at the Hall is on Saturday 29 October, from 1pm to 8pm. Go to the Hafodunos Hall facebook page here to find out more. And don't miss the best dream homes in Wales, auction properties, renovation stories, and interiors - join the Amazing Welsh Homes newsletter , sent to your inbox twice a week.
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