Steven and Sadie Glover almost ignored Meadowcroft when they first saw it in 2005.

“It was old and tatty and, to be honest, most people would’ve run a mile. The only thing that made us stop and think was the views along the valley,” Steven recalls.

“We arranged a second viewing and began to see the potential the property offered, although it was a massive project.”

It may have been a huge project, but less than two months later this ugly duckling had become an elegant swan.

“I had lived in East Morton for six years and liked the village before we decided to buy Meadowcroft. We wanted something we could personalise, and after a bit of a wait we found the one.”

The day they moved in they filled a large skip with the previous owners’ unwanted items and all the fitted furniture, carpets and curtains, basically taking it back to a shell.

“Bearing in mind we moved in at the end of October, we were having Christmas dinner with 12 guests less than eight weeks later and a New Year’s Eve party for 35 the week after in a completely renovated house.”

The first room to be tackled was the master bedroom, where they skimmed the ceiling as well as decorating. Electrics had to be altered and extra lights fitted and air conditioning, along with new bedroom furniture, which was the easy part for Steven as he works for a handcrafted furniture business in Bradford.

The kitchen was next on the list. After removing a non-supporting wall to open up the area, they had the plasterers in again to skim ceilings and walls before the floor was fully tiled.

“The house had become a building site,” Steven says. “After the floor had been tiled, the solid wood bespoke kitchen was fitted with top-of-the-range appliances.”

The couple were then able to take a bit of a breather as the lounge and the other three bedrooms only needed decorating and carpeting.

While the work only took two months, they didn’t skimp on finish quality, and the whole house has been renovated to a high standard.

Only two rooms – the en-suite and house bathroom – weren’t touched before the Christmas deadline, as they needed major changes.

“The house bathroom had what I can only describe as a ‘letterbox’ window, which we wanted to make full size. This was never going to happen in the schedule we were working to.”

The next couple of years saw slow alterations to the outside of the property, including adding the porch, new electric garage doors, landscaping the garden, fencing to help security and privacy, and most recently decking and a hot tub.

Meadowcroft now has a living room with conservatory to the rear, spacious open plan kitchen dining room, which really is the hub of this family home, four bedrooms – one with en-suite – family bathroom and downstairs cloakroom.

The conservatory, dining room and double garage all lead to the rear garden, which has a lawn with raised borders, patio area and bin store.

Stroll through the French doors or the conservatory to the raised decked and you can enjoy the built-in hot tub while admiring the views.

Steven adds: “Now all the work is done, I would say our favourite room is the conservatory.

“It enjoys all-day sunshine as it is south-facing and of course has incredible views.

“The things we will miss most about the house are the open plan kitchen and those views.”

Meadowcroft in Highfield Close, East Morton, is on the market for £399,950 with Henleys, Bingley, tel (01274) 560321