‘Test of strength’ to turn derelict barn into home after builder vanishes
A FAMILY of five have completed the conversion of a historic barn in Derbyshire despite reportedly being left thousands of pounds out of pocket by a builder.
James and Kirsty Corbett bought the 200-year-old barn in Spanker Lane, Nether Heage, in 2019 but the building was not watertight and needed to be connected to a water and electricity supply before the couple could move in with their three daughters, aged 10, eight and four.
But the couple claim they were left tens of thousands out of pocket when their original builder suddenly disappeared after 13 months, and the family said they later found out they were not the trader’s first victims.
Kirsty, 32, said: “The police told us that the builder had a colourful history and that we were the fourth family that he had done this to.
“Sadly, there is a legal loophole meaning that we would have had to pursue them in a civil court rather than a legal one.
“The choice was to spend what we had left pursuing a builder that had gone on the run or to employ a new builder.”
The family decided to hire new builders, Shaun Fletcher and Paul Allen, to finish the renovation, who completed the project in just three months despite a shortage of supplies and the arrival of Covid-19.
The space now also helps James and Kirsty’s eldest daughter cope with her complex medical needs, after being diagnosed with a rare blood condition called idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura aged just three.
The condition can often heal itself in children, whereas adults frequently require treatment, but it left Amelie with a weakened immune system despite beating the condition aged five.
Kirsty added: “It’s fabulous that we now have a beautiful space where the client really can move in for the day and we can truly care for them, as well as cater for our young family, including our eldest daughter’s medical needs.”
With the works now complete, they have also made it home to a photography studio, Studio1825, which is home to two family businesses – Be Bold Be You and Be my Baby UK.
James, 41, said: “It’s time to start the new chapter.
“It’s been an absolute labour of love and a test of strength and patience.
“In the 16 months it took to get the building to usable we endured a cowboy builder, an endangered bat, two floods and a mummified cat which is now housed in Derby museum.”
The Be my Baby brand focuses on newborn art photography, and Be Bold Be You has recently gained national recognition.
It came after the studio helped a Derbyshire woman who had a double mastectomy stage a boudoir photoshoot before her surgery, but the photos were then removed from social media for breaching Facebook’s guidelines as they were deemed “sexually explicit”.
Facebook then acknowledged that it was wrong to
remove the content after being contacted by the
We endured a cowboy builder, an endangered bat, two floods and a mummified cat
James Corbett
BBC.
Kirsty, 32, said to the BBC: “It’s about embracing the skin that you’re in. We can have everybody from cancer survivors to domestic abuse survivors to body dysmorphia.
“Who are we to deny somebody to express themselves?”
The Derby Telegraph has attempted to contact the builder in question, with the business now listed as dissolved on Companies House.