When it comes to Christmas, we have a lot to thank the Victorians for. If it wasn't for them we wouldn't be decorating our Christmas trees and sending greetings cards.

Of course, for an authentic Victorian look you need an authentic Victorian home, and that is exactly what we have here in Clayton; rooms with soaring Christmas trees decorated with Victorian style ornaments, chandeliers and armfuls of greenery. Not a piece of modern tinsel in sight!

This is a home where the Victorian charm and character has been carefully, and lovingly, restored by Craig Halliday and Dean Greenwood.

They came across the house in quite a serendipitous manner five and a half years ago when Craig, who has a hairdressers in Clayton, discovered that a customer's mother was selling the property.

"We went to have a look straight away and the original features like the cornices and plaster work were the definite wow' factor," says Dean. The deal was done, and armed with nothing more than some period glossy magazines and a lot of conviction they set about transforming the house.

"We've done it all ourselves with ideas from magazines; a local reclamation yard was a gold mine, especially when it came to lighting. We knew exactly what we wanted to achieve, and that's what we've got.

"It wasn't decorated to our taste so we started work on the lounge immediately. We couldn't find an appropriate fire surround for the lounge, so we visited a plasterworks in Eccleshill that we came across in one of the magazines. The owner had lots of casts of original fireplaces, so he did one for us. It looks solid, but it's very delicate."

Next they turned the kitchen into a dining room, using Chatworth House in Derbyshire as their inspiration.

"It sounds mad, doesn't it... recreating a dining room from Chatsworth House in a terrace in Clayton," says Dean. "But we love it and it works. There was this stunning painted ceiling, so we got a couple of postcards of it then had them enlarged and put them on the ceiling, using gilded coving as a frame."

At that time the cellar was just used for storage but Dean and Craig decided it was the perfect place for a kitchen.

"The kitchen was a nightmare to do. It took two weeks just to clean it after we'd emptied it of everything but the original range and the stone flagged floor. There was ivy growing in the window and the door had fallen off and just been nailed back in.

"Initially we put in a cream Shaker style kitchen, but we have two dogs and a cat, and it wasn't long before it was looking tired. We spotted a competition in one of our magazines which mentioned a garden centre in Cheshire which also had a reclamation yard. We paid a visit and saw all these antique pine free-standing units set out. They came from abroad and have relief carvings of pears and grapes, and they're waxed, not varnished. They have to be redone every year, but it is a labour of love."

Throughout the house there is a mix of antique furniture and reproduction - both of which sit happily together - and it is easy to imagine a traditional Christmas dinner with the family all sat round the large dining table.

Then they turned their attention to creating an en-suite from a small bedroom. "We knocked through, and now you go through a wardrobe. It's like going through to Narnia!" laughs Dean. "Guests are always amazed."

The en-suite has a corner multi-jet shower cubicle, high-level cistern toilet and pedestal wash basin, with half-tiled walls.

The Jacuzzi room is definitely 21st Century with its Travertine marble basin, walls and floor.

"We didn't want to end up going through the ceiling like the Battersbys in Coronation Street. Fortunately when we had the engineer in to check the ceiling he said the joists were running in the right direction so we didn't need any reinforcing when we put in the outsize sunken Jacuzzi, feature Travertine wash basin and fully-tiled Travertine walls and floor."

There are two bedrooms on the first floor, both of which have an original cast iron fire while one also has stripped floorboards. The third is an attic bedroom with roof light.

"It's been an ongoing project. The original work took two years, and for the last three we've just been adding to or altering," says Dean.

"My favourite room is the dining room. I just adore the colour scheme and the opulence of it. For Craig, it's probably the Jacuzzi and the lounge.

"We've both done the inside, but the outside was my domain. For a small garden we've done quite a lot with it.

"There's a gazebo and in the summer we can be out there until midnight. The colour scheme of the planting is mainly reds, white and blue... very patriotic!"

They are moving because Dean, as well as being a hairdresser, breeds Arab horses; they want to build a new home among 30-odd acres of pasture they have bought for the horses in the Calder Valley.

Dean adds: "We love the space of the house, the look and feel. And we also love the village, but needs must..."

This property in Selborne Villas, Clayton, is on the market for OIRO £179,950 with Stepping Stones, Bradford, (01274) 817755