Egypt Road, Thornton, £124,950
Whitegates, Bradford (01274) 306611

When a friend who worked for the company that bought this whole block of houses told James Whittam there was one available, he was delighted. “Another friend and I were looking for a house to renovate ourselves and this was exactly what we were looking for.

“Unfortunately, my friend backed out of the joint purchase beforehand, so I bought and renovated the house myself.”

The house in question is in Egypt Road, with a lounge, kitchen, second lounge or third bedroom, utility room, two bedrooms and a modern shower room.

No-one is quite sure why it is called Egypt, but it is thought it might have something to do with Egypt Chapel, which is long gone.

Thornton is a higgledy-piggledy jumble of archways, courts and passages with wonderful biblical names like Jericho and Jerusalem – a legacy from the 19th century, when Thornton was an extremely puritanical community.

This corner Grade II-listed cottage is set over three levels and the ‘wow’ factor is its age – the house is around 200 years old.

“It was also the fact that it still has the amazing stone flag floors upstairs, which I uncovered and cleaned. The cut-out storage squares in the utility room – I think they used to be fridges as they are under the earth – and the fireplaces.”

James bought the house in 2006, but didn’t move for 18 months because that’s how long the renovations took.

The house is full of features like wood stained latch doors, flagged floors, beamed ceilings and mullioned windows, which James has sympathetically restored.

“I have replaced the windows ‘like for like’ in solid wood and Pilkington K sealed double glazed units, replaced or opened up the internal window seats, and fitted new engineered oak doors and casings.”

The external stone window surrounds were sand blasted to remove years of paint. and the cellar windows and door opening were opened up as they were blocked up at some point.

Then James dug out and rebuilt the external cellar stairs, re-flagged the path around the property and uncovered the stone flagged floor in the kitchen and living room.

“I removed a 1970s stone hearth and gas fire in the living room to find the stone fireplace you see there today.”

The house was redecorated, with a new kitchen and hand-made internal doors. New carpets throughout have been fitted and a new shower room was fitted including travertine stone shower tiles and natural slate floor tiles.

The cellar has been professionally lined/tanked along the retaining walls and conforms to council insulating regulations.

The internal drainage system put in place which leads to a sunken tank and pump at the bottom of the external cellar steps. The flooring in the cellar is a hand shaped hard wood.

The boiler is only a month old and has a saniflo pump underneath for a sink and washing machine.

“The house didn’t have central heating when I purchased it, so the whole system is around seven years old with modern acova radiators and also the whole soil stack and pipework have been replaced.

“I love the cellar as it has so much light to say it’s half underground. The floor and stylish radiator, I think, look great. Also, I really love the shower as I am more of a shower than a bath person.

“I think the house will be suitable for anyone really, from first-time buyers because of the price, small families because of the size of the property or people retiring or down sizing, who should find the whole property easily manageable.

“I’m going to miss the fact that the house is completely finished and the quietness of the area with the peaceful views.”