When Hannah Price, 31, starting looking for a home with partner Alisdair, a "doer upper" never crossed her mind.
However, since buying their south Liverpool property, known as Elmsvale, the couple have embarked on a full renovation; adding an extension which now features a stunning kitchen with bi-fold doors, a skylight and a central island, as well as installing a mezzanine in the master bedroom.
"I ideally wanted a new build or at least something habitable," she told the ECHO. "I liked the idea of everything being done and us being able to move in straight away."
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"A lot of people thought we were crazy buying this house as our first home but for us it was the perfect time as we were both still living at home so we didn’t need to live in the renovation. Our builders were great and when we changed plans over a weekend - nothing was too much to ask."
You can follow Hannah's renovation journey here @thetaleofelmsvale
Hannah takes pride in the history of the property and describes herself as a "big fan" of period décor. The couple have worked hard to restore what they can, including French polishing its staircase. "The house had, unfortunately, lost many of its original features through the years including almost all of the coving and worst of all the original slate roof being felted over," Hannah said.
"We've tried to put as many of those back as we can and it’s super rewarding when somebody asks 'are they original?'"
Elmsvale dates back to the 1840s and is understood to have been owned by James Kelshaw, a corn and flour dealer in Gateacre. The family before Hannah and Alisdair lived there for more than a century. The previous owner - also named Hannah - left the property to the Catholic Church before moving to a home. Hannah said she was "thrilled" to learn a new family was now looking after Elmsvale.
The next step of the couple's project is a full overhaul of the coach house to the rear of the property.
"We’re desperate to start the coach house for different reasons. Alasdair wants his man cave sorted and I want to get it done so we can get on with other things like the porch and driveway. We’re glad we didn’t rush it because plans have evolved so much over the last few years especially with starting a family.
"We’re so excited to start the next phase of our renovation and who knows what the future holds. I’ll definitely need something to scratch my reno itch."
Hannah has amassed more than 24,000 followers on Instagram sharing her day-to-day life.
She said: "We started this account to update friends and family so they could see where we were up to with our renovations and when we started posting, our account started to grow. The house Instagram community is amazing and I’ve made genuine friends with people I would never have met if it wasn’t for Instagram."
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