A couple have spent £50,000 transforming a derelict water pumping station into a stunning luxury countryside getaway - which is now being booked up by celebrities.
Tyler Richards, 29, and his girlfriend Megan Mullen-Knight, 26, snapped up the neglected concrete tank in Trimpley, Worcs., at auction in May 2022.
The innovative pair paid £55,000 for the former Severn Trent Water building - which measures just 3.5m (11ft) x 2m (6ft) - and found it "dark, damp and full of spiders."
Builder Tyler and dad Darren, 57, then went about transforming the site into a £200-a-night deluxe retreat - complete with hot tub, indoor cinema and putting green.
They took out thick concrete walls - built to withstand thousands of tonnes of water - to put in French doors and an outdoor area offering amazing countryside views.
The upstairs control room was converted into a stylish living space, kitchen and bathroom while the downstairs tank is now an underground cinema bedroom.
The property recently featured on Channel 4's 'George Clarke's Amazing Spaces' with the host describing it as "off-the-scale brilliant" with a "serious wow factor".
The incredible deluxe duplex was built by Tyler and his father with the inside being decorated and furnished by interior designers Megan.
Tyler, of Kidderminster, Worcs., said: "I only live a few minutes down the road and I was driving along one day when I saw this place and wondered what on earth it was.
"I jumped the fence and went and had a look at it and I instantly saw it had potential as a possible property mainly because of the stunning views up there.
"I showed it my dad and he thought the same so we had a look online to see how much it was being auctioned for. At that point it was only £15,000.
"In the end we paid £55,000 for it, which we were over the moon with as we'd been prepared to go up to £100,000 as we could see the potential yield.
"We sort of just fell in love with the place - even though it was this neglected Severn Trent building.
"When we got inside it, it was dirty, damp and dark and we knew we had one hell of a job on our hands.
"But Megan has an amazing eye and we had this vision for it, which we determined to make a reality.
""We had to wait a year for the planning to go through as it faced some opposition from the local council and residents originally.
"But as soon as it got the go-ahead in May last year, we were up there night and day most days a week and it took five months to complete.
"We faced obstacles because the concrete in the pump station itself was reinforced to withstand tonnes of water pressure.
"It was the strongest concrete you could get and took some getting through.
Severn Trent really built the tank to last.
"We then tore out the equipment from the control room. It all had to be stripped back to brick and we had to dig out loads of soil too outside as it was so raised.
Tyler Richards, 29, and his girlfriend Megan Mullen-Knight, 26, snapped up the neglected concrete tank in Trimpley, Worcs., at auction in May 2022.
The innovative pair paid £55,000 for the former Severn Trent Water building - which measures just 3.5m (11ft) x 2m (6ft) - and found it "dark, damp and full of spiders."
Builder Tyler and dad Darren, 57, then went about transforming the site into a £200-a-night deluxe retreat - complete with hot tub, indoor cinema and putting green.
They took out thick concrete walls - built to withstand thousands of tonnes of water - to put in French doors and an outdoor area offering amazing countryside views.
The upstairs control room was converted into a stylish living space, kitchen and bathroom while the downstairs tank is now an underground cinema bedroom.
The property recently featured on Channel 4's 'George Clarke's Amazing Spaces' with the host describing it as "off-the-scale brilliant" with a "serious wow factor".
The incredible deluxe duplex was built by Tyler and his father with the inside being decorated and furnished by interior designers Megan.
Tyler, of Kidderminster, Worcs., said: "I only live a few minutes down the road and I was driving along one day when I saw this place and wondered what on earth it was.
"I jumped the fence and went and had a look at it and I instantly saw it had potential as a possible property mainly because of the stunning views up there.
"I showed it my dad and he thought the same so we had a look online to see how much it was being auctioned for. At that point it was only £15,000.
"In the end we paid £55,000 for it, which we were over the moon with as we'd been prepared to go up to £100,000 as we could see the potential yield.
"We sort of just fell in love with the place - even though it was this neglected Severn Trent building.
"When we got inside it, it was dirty, damp and dark and we knew we had one hell of a job on our hands.
"But Megan has an amazing eye and we had this vision for it, which we determined to make a reality.
""We had to wait a year for the planning to go through as it faced some opposition from the local council and residents originally.
"But as soon as it got the go-ahead in May last year, we were up there night and day most days a week and it took five months to complete.
"We faced obstacles because the concrete in the pump station itself was reinforced to withstand tonnes of water pressure.
"It was the strongest concrete you could get and took some getting through.
Severn Trent really built the tank to last.
"We then tore out the equipment from the control room. It all had to be stripped back to brick and we had to dig out loads of soil too outside as it was so raised.
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FunTranscript
00:00My name's Tyler Richards. This is the project called the Water Pump Station.
00:03We purchased it for £55,000 at auction. It's a really unique property that me and my dad saw.
00:10So me and my dad do all the building work on the property and then Megan will come in and
00:13do the interior design. We've got a short-stay Airbnb business which we have seven properties
00:23on now. It's number seven and it's been a real hit with everyone. It's been fully booked for
00:28nine to ten months now and people absolutely love it, love the uniqueness about it. We've got a
00:35bedroom cinema. We've got a hot tub with views five minutes from the West Midlands Safari Park.
00:50So the property itself we purchased at auction for £55,000. I think me and my dad said that
00:55we were actually going to go to £100,000 because of how much we loved it so we got it for a steal
01:00really. Then when we started spending the money on actually doing it up we were going to spend
01:04originally £30,000 but I think because it's such a small space we wanted to put top quality stuff in
01:09like you can see the hot tub and the golf green and that. We actually did go over budget but I
01:16think in the end we ended up spending between £45,000 and £50,000 so about £20,000 over budget
01:21but I think it really shows with the bookings that we've had off the back of it and
01:25yeah spending that little bit more money has really helped. Everything was really hard but
01:29no it was an interesting project because obviously me and my dad normally do house building and
01:34things like that which are quite straightforward but it was nice to challenge ourselves so we did
01:38really enjoy it. It took us about four months in total. What it was before and what the neighbours
01:44can see now is like a real game changer really. They're enjoying it. They come over and say
01:50how much nicer it's looking so yeah it's great. George Clark's Amazing Spaces actually came about
01:55because Megan's mum watched us buy this and their advertising so they were like oh this would be
02:01great for the show and Megan was like well there must be thousands of people that applied for it
02:05like they're not going to pick us. So we applied for it then the next thing is they get back in
02:10touch saying we'd be perfect for the show but planning actually only went through a week before
02:15they were going to film so it was quite touch and go whether we were going to get planning or not
02:19so that was quite nerve-wracking but once it was all through and it was here yeah it was a great
02:23experience met some amazing people and opened up a lot of doors really for things that are in the
02:28future. They've said if we've got any future projects or anything like that get in touch so
02:33no it's been it's been great.