Eyeing up this idyllic cottage? It’s yours for a tenner
You can often unearth great-value properties if you’re willing to look off the beaten track.
But even the shrewdest investor would ld struggle to find a bargain this spectacular. r.
Because Neil and Janet Shepherd are now w the proud owners of a £300,000 cottage – and it cost them only £10 in raffle tickets.
The 200-year- old two-bedroom home me boasts a bespoke kitchen, period fittings gs and a wood burning stove.
The garden also offers stunning views as s the property is situated on the Llyn Peninsula - in North Wales, close to Snowdonia National Park. The cottage had been derelict when Katherine Jablonowska and Ryan Mclean bought it for £150,000 in 2018.
The pair then gutted and transformed the home – which is a five-minute drive inland from the seaside village of Criccieth – and decided to offer it as a raffle prize.
In the end they sold 90,000 tickets at £5 apiece – enough to cover their costs and donate more than £65,000 to The Children’s Society. Civil servant Mrs Shepherd had bought two tickets – one for her and one for 40-year-old d carpenter t husband d – thinking that even if she didn’t win, at least she would have given some money to charity.
But the mother-of-two, who lives in Rainford, near St Helens, Merseyside, ‘went into shock’ when she got the call to say her ticket had, in fact, won the raffle. Mrs Shepherd, 40, said: ‘At first, I couldn’t quite make out what she said and when she repeated that I’d won I went into shock.
‘It was completely out of the blue... I managed to get through to my husband and my voice was shaking. He was very happy and crying on the phone. I was crying on the phone. It’s a lot more than just a building. This is life-changing.
‘We’ll use it for the next couple of years for holidays with family and friends. It gives us that financial security so we can do things back home as well.’
Before giving up their jobs to dedicate themselves to the renovation project, Mr Mclean, 41, was a chef and Miss Jablonowska, 33, had been a hospitality manager.
They spent two years doing 14-hour days revamping the cottage to make it into a luxury modern home. Mr Mclean said: ‘Speaking with Janet for the first time and telling her she’d won the house was very surreal. I don’t think anyone could blame her for being a bit overwhelmed.
‘By the end of the phone call, it definitely got a bit emotional, even for us.’
‘It’s a lot more than just a building’