Brunswick Road - 01 the purchase

Penrith, Cumbria. June-2021.

What do you do when you sell your main home and have w-a-a-y too much stuff to fit in your second home? Do you:

1. get rid of stuff
2. rent a lock up to store furniture
3. rent a garage to store bicycles
4. buy a new, bigger property
5. all of the above

The correct answer according to Mary is e).

Announcing the Penrith Money Pit II, acquired 15-June-2021.

The original plan had been that Benson Row, Penrith was a second home to be let out on Airbnb while we were in Italy over the summer. Covid buggered that plan. Having lived here since the start of the first lockdown, Benson Row became our main home. 

Following the sale of Heathfield Square and moving our belongings we discovered that Benson Row is not large enough for all our stuff plus we can’t Airbnb it while we are here living in it. So we using some of the proceeds from the sale of Heathfield Square to upsize here in Penrith. Are we mad?

We made an offer on the Brunswick Road property just as we completed on the sale of Heathfield Square and took possession on 15th June 2021. The estate agent's photos make it look a bit odd due to the extreme wide angle lens they use. The original blurb:

"Found in Penrith Town Centre on Brunswick Road is this recently renovated* 4 bedroom town house. The property is deceptively spacious and briefly comprises of entrance vestibule, hallway, living room, dining room, kitchen which has been extended and a bathroom on the ground floor. On the first floor there are 2 bedrooms and a family bathroom, on the second floor there are 2 further double bedrooms. This property is ready to move into and would suit a first time buyer, it would also make a fabulous family home or rental investment. The property is situated within easy walking distance to the shops, schools and local amenities. Penrith offers easy access to the M6, A66 and the Lake District National Park"

* "Recently renovated" is the estate agent's euphemism for tarted up cosmetically: new carpets throughout, every room repainted definitely papering over the cracks, a new bathroom on the first floor, a newly installed central heating boiler which turns out to be an old, presumably reconditioned,  replacement, and so on.

Front elevation. Typical Penrith sandstone building. Our front garden needs some work; the neighbour's garden with its bath full of flowers attracts many admiring glances and comments.

Working from the top down. The second floor is not a loft conversion; it was built as a three storey house. 

Second Floor: Bedroom 4.

Second floor landing with lovely, original Victorian banisters.

Second floor: Bedroom 3.

First Floor: Bedroom 1, this will be our bedroom.

First Floor: Bathroom, created by the seller by stealing a chunk from bedroom 2.

First Floor: Bedroom 2. This will be our study / home office.

First floor landing.

Ground floor: Kitchen. This will be completely ripped out and redone.

Ground floor: Dining room. We plan to expose the fireplace hidden behind the chimney breast. Also convert the window into French doors out onto the yard. There is an ancient boiler in that corner cupboard which we will replace and re-site into the to-be shower room

Ground floor: The original bathroom. The bath will be replaced by a shower in order to allow us to move the washing machine from the kitchen into here.

Ground floor: Living room. We know there is likely to be a sandstone fireplace in here as well but have no immediate plans to expose that. 

Back yard. No garden but we do have a small yard and shed, unlike Benson Row, so we will have outside space to sit out in, have BBQ's, hang laundry, store bicycles, etc.

So we will have plenty to do. When agreeing to this purchase with Mary, the deal was I do NOT have to do any decorating after all the lockdown 1.0 painting I did in Benson Row.