Claire Champion, 49, and her husband John, 58, have transformed a £200,000 former bungalow in Christleton, Chester, into their dream home. The couple now live without a mortgage, and Claire still rents out the flat she owned in Reading.
From bungalow to family home
John bought the two-bedroom dormer bungalow 15 years ago for £200,000, after selling his previous property, and was able to purchase it outright. He chose the home for its location in Christleton, a village two miles outside Chester, and because it was liveable but had potential for extension and renovation.
Claire moved to Chester from Reading 12 years ago, where she had built her career in digital banking. The couple met while out in Chester with mutual friends and have been together for over 10 years, married for eight.
Major structural changes
The first phase of work involved converting the attached garage into two additional living spaces and creating a large archway from the living room. One of two doors from the hallway into the kitchen/diner was blocked up to improve the flow of the downstairs layout.
The most significant work was upstairs. The original house had two small bedrooms built into the eaves, but the couple removed the existing rear roof structure and added large dormer extensions across the back, enlarging both original bedrooms and creating a third.
The property, built in the 1950s or 60s, features large windows, a generous footprint, and original parquet flooring, which inspired a mid-century aesthetic that felt natural to the couple, who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s.
DIY efforts and future plans
The couple renovated the kitchen themselves and fitted the stair runner, saving money. Claire handles painting, upcycling, and wallpapering. Their rule is to leave jobs to professionals if fixing a failed DIY attempt would cost more than doing it properly.
Monthly household bills are approximately £600, including council tax. Claire still has a mortgage on her Reading flat, which she hopes to clear within the next 10 years.
The couple have discussed a similar extension at the front of the property to mirror the rear work, which could provide more loft space, an additional bedroom, a utility room, and a larger bathroom, though nothing has been decided yet.
