Keith and Kerry Legg learned something was wrong when they got an email from their next-door neighbour back home in Guildtown, near Perth.
The couple – who both teach in international schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – were told that running water could be heard inside the empty cottage.
So Keith asked his mum and dad, who live nearby, to check on things.
“My parents went out there and, yeah, it was a bit of a disaster,” he recalls.
‘It was like walking through a paddling pool’
“The ceiling had come down in the kitchen, in two of the bedrooms and in the living room.
“The amount of water that was on the floor – it wasn’t draining away.
“My mum described it like walking through a paddling pool.”
A pipe had burst, subsequently flooding the countryside property.
This is despite the fact Keith’s parents had been in shortly beforehand to turn the heating on to ensure exactly that wouldn’t happen.
It was January 2023, and there had been a sharp and sudden cold spell.
“What we think could have happened is that the oil, potentially that was running from the tank to the boiler, may have frozen, so that cuts the boiler off – meaning there’s no central heating – so the pipes, then, in turn, freeze,” Keith explains.
Insurance company initially rejected claim
What followed for the couple was a stressful year-long battle with their insurance company, which rejected their claim on the grounds that the property had been “unoccupied” at the time of the incident.
The couple argued this wasn’t the case, with Keith’s parents and a team of painters and decorators popping in regularly during that period.
But thankfully, with support from claims management company Oakleafe Claims, the provider finally agreed to cover the repairs.
And it’s a good thing, too. The repairs ended up costing £189,000 – just £10,000 less than what they bought it for in 2012.
Keith and Kerry lived in the C-listed cottage, which is around 200 years old, with their daughter for three years, before accepting jobs abroad and renting it out.
The charming four-bed home was occupied by tenants until 2022.
Keith, 51, and Kerry, 52, then arranged for it to be redecorated, with a view to putting it up for sale.
Having permanently moved to Malaysia, they were keen to release the equity and build up their pension pot.
But the burst pipe put their plans on hold.
Cottage now on the market for offers over £270,000
Over the course of 2024, the house has been restored to its previous condition, and might look even better.
And finally, two years later than they initially planned to, Keith and Kerry have put it on the market.
It’s now on sale with Thorntons, and listed on PSCP’s website, for offers over £270,000.
When it came to the renovation, the couple made a decision early on to hand the reins over to Oakleafe Claims.
The loss assessors appointed Lomond & Co of Glasgow to project manage the work and AKP Scotland to act as contractors.
“I used to work in financial services,” Keith says. “But we were both kind of like – this is beyond what we can cope with here [Malaysia], with the distance”
And it was a big job.
Couple were keen to maintain original features of 200-year-old cottage
The house was “literally ripped back to the bare walls”, before being rewired, replumbed, replastered and repainted throughout.
New tiles were also put into the bathrooms, while a mix of wooden floorboards and laminate flooring was installed throughout.
A stove was installed in the living room, while a full-size range cooker was put in the kitchen.
Keith and Kerry were keen to maintain as many of its original features as possible – one of the things which attracted them to the house in the first place.
This includes the original back wall of the house, which adds a bit of “character” to their daughter’s former bedroom.
“We had the option, within the insurance claim, of putting boards in front of it,” Keith says.
“But why would you do that? Because it makes the room quite interesting.
“And that was my daughter’s bedroom when we lived in the house, and she really liked having that wall there as well.”
Laughing, he adds: “It’s part of the history of the house.
“Being a history teacher, I like that kind of thing!”
How a lucky miscommunication led to bright blue walls
There were some lucky accidents along the way as well, particularly when it comes to the vibrant blue colour of the walls in the laundry room.
“The walls had originally been a very light duck egg blue,” Keith says.
“But I think we just said ‘blue’ to [the project managers], and hadn’t quite described it.
“And when we first got the photos, we were kind of like, ‘Oh, right.’
“But then the more we looked at it, we thought, ‘Actually, it does work’.
“It’s a very small room with a window in the ceiling, so [the colour] brightens it up quite a lot”.
This bright blue continues into the kitchen – Keith’s favourite room in the house.
“It’s a very light kitchen,” he says.
“It’s got a large window that looks up to the garden.
“There’s French windows that go out to a small patio at the back.
“And there’s also one other small window.
“So there’s a lot of natural light that comes into the kitchen.
“It makes it a pleasure to cook in.”
The reason Keith and Kerry never bought a dishwasher
He explains the reason he and Kerry decided never to buy a dishwasher.
“The sink is directly in front of the kitchen window.
“And we’d always thought, ‘Should we put a dishwasher in there?’
“And we never got around to it.
“Because, much as I hate doing the washing up, standing at the kitchen sink, looking up the garden, seeing the occasional pheasant and things that would come in… after a long day teaching, it was actually quite relaxing to do that.”
- Have you renovated your property? Get in touch poppy.watson@dcthomson.co.uk
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