Olivia and Tom David’s cottage had remained untouched for decades before they started their sympathetic restoration, which both honoured the house’s history and its former resident
THE STORY
OWNERS Olivia David and her husband Tom, a roofing contractor. The couple live next door with their son Bertie, 10, Daphne the Dachshund, and Kiwi the black Labrador
PROPERTY A 120-year-old, semi-detached two-bedroomed cottage in Winterborne Whitechurch, Dorset. Along with the adjoining property, it once housed the laundry for a nearby manor house, and in later years was a farmworker’s cottage
WHAT THEY DID The cottage has undergone a top-down renovation, including a new roof, damp-course, wiring, heating and plumbing. A new kitchen and upstairs bathroom have been fitted and the property has been redecorated throughout. They now let it for holidays (littledorsetcottage.co.uk)
Although Olivia David and her husband Tom bought the small cottage adjoining their Dorset village home in 2017, they didn’t look around it beforehand and barely stepped inside until almost two years later.
‘We already knew that the cottage was a mirror image of our home, but in a poor state. However, we couldn’t go in as there was a long-term tenant,’ explains Olivia. ‘Fred was such a lovely elderly gentleman, who had lived there since he was a child. He was very private and didn’t want anything changed, but he was a wonderful neighbour. We assured him we wouldn’t disturb his home as long as he was there.’
The couple planned to restore the cottage at some point and transform it into a holiday let that Olivia would manage, alongside caring for their young son Bertie. In the meantime, Tom entered briefly once or twice for essential improvements, but Olivia never went inside. In 2019, sadly, their neighbour died unexpectedly. Overnight, the renovation became imminent rather than a future plan. When Olivia finally saw the interior for the first time, she was overwhelmed.
‘It was so dark,’ she says, ‘I’d expected a lovely old brick fireplace, the same as ours, in the living room, but there was just an ancient electric fire. Everywhere was damp, mouldy and so decrepit that I couldn’t really see where to begin.’
As a roofing contractor, Tom had experience in construction work, but neither he nor Olivia had ever taken on such a demanding project. B
