A couple who bought a 1950s London fixer-upper have been left stunned after uncovering a secret hidden under the old carpet. The homeowners, who bought the property late last year, described it as the "worst house on the best street" but decided to take a chance on the dated home.
However, they recently hit the renovation jackpot when they pulled up the carpet and discovered original parquet flooring beneath. Joe Brawn, who owns the property with his partner, said he had first spotted the flooring in the living room several months ago.
But it was only recently that they realised the historic flooring stretched across the entire downstairs. Joe said: "We had no idea when we bought the house."
Social media reaction
The couple has been documenting their renovation journey on Instagram through their account @hillendhousereno, and shared a video showing them peeling back a corner of the carpet to reveal the wooden flooring underneath.
They captioned the post: "Cannot believe what was under these 70-year-old carpets," before adding: "Cannot believe anyone would ever want to cover these up."
The post garnered 1,100 likes and plenty of positive comments, with many agreeing the old flooring looks absolutely beautiful. One wrote: "Oh yeah. The glow up is going to be good."
Another said: "Wow! How stunning is that flooring! Very jealous! Was hoping to find some original flooring in my Edwardian home, but nope."
A third commented: "Love that they kept it. Don't get why they had to hide it." And a fourth added: "It's beautiful."
Restoring the old flooring
While the discovery was certainly exciting, the couple still has plenty of work ahead of them if they want to restore the flooring to its former glory.
A professional floor restorer is due to assess the parquet, with the couple yet to decide exactly how they want the finished floor to look.
They told Newsweek: "A lot of work is needed to restore this beautiful parquet, but it will be so worth it."
Restoring original parquet flooring can be a costly and time-consuming job, depending on its condition and the amount of work required.
Zoopla advises homeowners to set aside around 10 to 15% of their renovation budget for unexpected costs, something that could prove particularly useful for a project like this.
Despite the work and expense involved, the couple has no plans to rip out the original feature and replace it with something modern.
Instead, they are determined to bring the decades-old flooring back to life and preserve one of the home's original features.
Sharing their excitement about the renovation, they said: "We saw the potential and now the work begins."
