'Uninhabitable' Welsh farmhouse renovation has changed our lives

Gav and Nicole are chasing their dream of a self-sufficient existence in the countryside - and are posting updates on their journey on social media. Lucy John reports

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MOST people would have walked away from a crumbling farmhouse and a yard full of derelict outbuildings.

But that’s exactly what attracted Nicole and Gav to the 13-acre smallholding in west Wales.

While holidaying nearby in October 2023 the couple decided they “might as well” view some smallholdings for sale to simply indulge in a dream they had long carried.

The couple immediately fell in love with the dilapidated Pembrokeshire site - which includes a farmhouse and a series of outbuildings at varying levels of disrepair - and put an offer down right away. But they were only able to make it a reality thanks to a fortunate turn of events.

“This one was ambitious because it was on for significantly more than we could afford because it had a huge acreage,” said Nicole, 37. “But when we came to see it they said it was not selling so they would be willing to split the land.”

“When there was talk about splitting the land and it made it more affordable - everything aligned,” Gav, 35, added.

In June 2024 Nicole and Gav finally got the keys and aimed to start work straightaway, juggling their full-time jobs with restoring the buildings and tackling the overgrown acres.

But with the farmhouse uninhabitable the pair had nowhere to live. So they bought a static caravan online which would become home for the foreseeable future for the couple along with their dog, Seren, who joined them two months later.

The couple's first priority was getting the farmhouse up and running so they could move in as soon as possible but it was the caravan that presented them with their first set of challenges.

Nicole said: “We got the caravan off Facebook. We went to see a range of different ones and some of them were really gross.

“This one is 30 years old but it does the job - although when we moved in we saw massive amounts of rot and the floor was collapsing so Gav had to rebuild two of the rooms.