A Guy Bought a Decrepit Old Place With Bare Stone Walls and Turned It Into a Dream Home

In 2020, George Dunnet bought his first house in the Scottish village of Kinnesswood. It was an abandoned 2-floor cottage without any furnishings. After 11 months of hard work, the old building turned into a cozy home. The guy told the story in his video blog.

George Dunnet decided to move out of his parents’ home and found an abandoned cottage not far from them on the same street. The 400-square-foot house didn’t have running water. It didn’t even have a proper floor. The floor was mostly dirt and soil, and the roof needed a lot of work. It was a stone box.

Nobody had lived in the building for over 50 years. The previous owners used it as a warehouse. After removing all the things, George assessed the house’s condition with construction workers. Both floors were just open spaces without any walls. There was nothing inside but an old chimney and a rickety old staircase.

The house’s facade was made from stones and was in terrible condition. Dunnet had to hire a stonemason to make them look better and become waterproof.

The roof construction turned out to be a much bigger project than expected. The workers found hydro insulation problems and said that the roof was dangerous and could fall. It all led to unplanned expenses. Additionally, they constructed a small window on the roof.

Dunnet decided to make a living room combined with a kitchen on the second floor. The wall with the chimney was also dangerous. The builders reinforced it and boarded up the old fireplace for safety reasons.

Dunnet put a computer chair and a desk in the corner. He is a video editor and has a YouTube blog, so he needs a good place to work.

He made a cute area in the other part of the kitchen, right under the window on the roof, to cook with lots of natural light.

The first floor has 2 rooms: a bathroom and a bedroom. The bathroom has a shower cabin, and the window has a matte window.

There’s a toilet in front of the shower, right under the staircase.

For the bedroom, Dunnet chose the same light color he used in the other rooms but also made an accent wall in the middle. He and his mom did all the painting.

In front of the bed, there’s a dresser, a cabinet for clothes, and a full-length mirror. There’s also lots of natural sunlight thanks to 2 big windows, making the place feel even warmer.

Dunnet thought it would be a great idea to put cobblestones on the ground near the house. He had this idea because the street the cottage is on is known as “The Cobbles.” His father helped him with this task.

In the beginning, the construction company said the renovation would take around 2 months, but it took almost a year. According to Dunnet, he spent $57,844, including the cottage purchase. The amount of money was double the amount he had planned to spend. But despite all the hardships, he is happy with the result, and now he’s already living in it.

Would you want to renovate an old building? Or would you prefer to buy a new place and move in immediately?