Accidental Renovators

Cal and Claire inspect the property in its current state, talking through the various works that need doing. They enlist help from volunteers sourced online from around the globe.

The financial struggles that Cal and Claire are up against become evident, as they realise that the work that's needed on Jameswood Villa is much greater than they ever anticipated. Living in a caravan on site and doing as much of the work as they physically can themselves along with unpaid volunteers, they realise it's time for some financial help.

As their unique story of the accidental purchase of the villa spreads online and their social media presence subsequently grows, Cal and Claire set up a Go Fund Me page and begin receiving generous donations from people from all over the world – some as far as Australia - who are following their story and wish to donate.

The initial funds received are used to buy scaffolding from eBay to save money on hiring a scaffolding company. The scaffolding is erected by Cal and Claire and work commences on the roof. As parts of the roof are caving in, the gravitas of the task becomes apparent and between safety concerns and a professional quote of £40,000, which is what they paid for the whole property, it's becoming a desperate situation. Cal's dad who has some experience in the industry steps in to help.

A huge storm is making its way towards Dunoon, threatening all of Cal and Claire's hard work and progress made so far on the roof. Claire realises that their online Instagram account for Jameswood Villa has just reached 100,000 followers.

In an attempt to continue the build in an eco-friendly and sustainable way, Cal and Claire strike a deal with a company who specialise in ecofriendly roof slate made from recycled plastic. After hammering in 6,000 nails by hand, the slates are finally installed successfully.

It's April 2020, and the Covid 19 pandemic has brought Scotland and the rest of the UK to a standstill under the first national lockdown. In Dunoon, first-time renovators Cal and Claire are spending lockdown at Jameswood with Cal's childhood friend James, an engineer, and his girlfriend Kate. 

There's lots of work for them to get stuck into: plumbing in an outdoor bathtub and clearing and landscaping the long-neglected garden. Claire tries to rein in Cal's enthusiasm for the digger but unfortunately, it's not enough to prevent Cal hitting the gas line to the house. 

By July the Scottish lockdown has eased so it's time for best friends Jake and Kate to leave Jameswood. Cal is able to travel to Glasgow to pick up building supplies while Claire pays a long-overdue visit to local friend Marry, who looked out for the couple when they first moved to Jameswood and who has since become a vital connection to the Dunoon community.  
 

It's December 2020 and with Cal's carpentry skills and Claire's new-found construction talent, the internal layout of Jameswood Villa is finally coming together. Now that they can focus on the upstairs framework and installing the windows, it's the first time they can enjoy putting a house back together, instead of pulling it apart. 

Cal and Claire's mission since the start of the renovation project has been to use entirely sustainable materials. But with a starting budget of only £10K, sustainably fitted windows were always going to be beyond their price range. However, having relied on the help of volunteers and by documenting the build on social media, Cal and Claire have managed to triple fund the project and simultaneously achieve a new-found influencer status on Instagram. In exchange for sponsored posts they've managed to secure ethically crafted wooden windows for Jameswood instead of conventional UPVC frames. For Claire, it feels like waking up on Christmas morning.