’We left life in London behind to turn an abandoned mansion into a luxury B&B’

The Bexley couple decided to move to a derelict Tudor mansion in Wales

A couple who left their life in South East London to transform a £750,000 dilapidated Tudor mansion into a breathtaking B&B – including restoring all 132 windows – are now putting it on the market for £1,500,000.

Adrian Cole, 68, and Christine Tallon, 62, left their careers in city law and snapped up the 500-year-old Y Fan mansion in Caerphilly, South Wales in 2016. The property, which can be traced back to 1529, had been left derelict and in a dreadful condition – riddled with mould, mushrooms, rusted radiators, crumbling plaster and rotting beams.

However, the couple recognised its remarkable potential and set about stripping everything back themselves – tearing off all the plaster and completely overhauling the walls and ceilings. The pair, originally from Bexley, South East London, had ambitious plans to transform the uninhabitable building into a boutique bed and breakfast – a dream they finally achieved in 2021.

Now, after five years of running the thriving business – during which they hosted more than 7,000 afternoon teas – they have decided to move on. The Grade II-listed property has been listed for £1,500,000 with Fine & Country.

Christine, who still does some work as a legal risk and compliance consultant, said: “We love living in it, and it has got a lovely homely feel to it. But it would be nice to have more of a relaxing work-life balance again. We are not getting any younger so I think it is time to hand it over to somebody who has got the energy.”

The couple tackled the renovation of the 6,000 sq ft property in two stages, living in one half while gutting the other. They overhauled the heating, electrics, and plumbing throughout, yet still endured one winter entirely without heating.

Adrian claims he had to do over 200 trips to the skip in a single year during the renovation process.

He said: “It was a gauntlet thrown down. Photos don’t do justice for how bad it was. Every bit of plaster was damp, and as a result the house was wet and filthy. There was mould. In one of the rooms there was a mushroom the size of a plate growing in the corner.”

He added: “You would get into bed at night and not only was it freezing but it was damp. It was absolutely horrible. Every morning we would come into the kitchen and there would be another pile of rubble on the kitchen table. We had to wear hard hats when we were going in to make a cup of tea.”

Christine added: “It was a mess. It was very run down. Everything that could leak did leak. The surveyors report we had was like a book, and at the end of it the final sentence was ‘this is not a project for the faint hearted.’ At that point most sensible people probably would have walked away from it, but we decided we were up for a challenge. You had to look past how bad it was and see what it could become.”

The pair also cleared the garden of brambles and stripped the render from the exterior walls. Despite having minimal DIY knowledge, the couple tackled as much as they possibly could themselves, enrolling on a lime pointing course and a dry stone wall building course.

Christine explained: “It was an interesting time. I nearly moved into the stable with my horse on the basis that it was warmer there than in our house. There were plenty of moments where we thought what the hell have we done, but once you are in it you’ve just got to carry on. It gradually took shape but it was always one step forward and ten steps back. It was a massive learning curve.”

She added: “We enjoyed the restoration. It was a good feeling to be putting right all the things that were done incorrectly with it. You could almost hear the building heaving a sigh of relief.”

The property had been due for completion in 2020, however the Covid lockdown brought much of the work to a standstill, meaning it finally opened its doors properly in May 2021.

Christine said that the bed and breakfast has become a firm favourite amongst locals, and that living in a home steeped in such rich history is a wonderful experience – with an abundance of wildlife on the doorstep, including owls, woodpeckers, and cuckoos. Nevertheless, the couple have taken the difficult decision to put the property on the market, as the demands of running the business proved increasingly overwhelming.

Christine said: “Living in something that is 500 years old is amazing and you wonder what feet have tread these floors and what they would have been doing here. The locals absolutely love it. Half of them played in it when it was a ruin and the other half didn’t know it was here. They all rave about how beautiful it is now.”

She added: “It does feel very grand. We are very proud of what we have done and the way that we have restored it. It still has a very historic feel just in modern times. We were running it as a B&B, we were probably fairly naïve on what hard work that is. It is a massive commitment and you have to be on call all the time.”

Adrian added: “It has great views and it is surrounded by green for lovely walks. We sit above the town and at night you can see all the light twinkling below.”

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