IT BEGAN as a bit of a challenge, but now it is something of an obsession to bring Christopher Pickering's home back to life.
Simon Kelsey and new wife Catherine Robinson have spent 18 months renovating the grand home in Coltman Street, west Hull.
The house had fallen into disrepair, having previously been turned into flats.
Even the small matter of getting married last Saturday
"We only got married on Saturday and we are postponing the honeymoon until the house is closer to completion," he said.
"It has been an added stress trying to organise a wedding among all this, but Catherine and her mum have done most of that.
"I knew it would be a big job but thought I could still do it alongside my gardening business, but it spiraled and I ended up having to do it full-time.
"We even had to live in a tent for a few months when the house had no windows."
But Simon, 48, admits he has been his own worst enemy.
"I have made a lot of extra work for myself," he admitted.
"I decided to make all the rooms en suite, which increased the size of the job.
"But we are only doing this once, so I may as well do it the best way I can."
There has been a lot of highs and lows as Simon explained.
"It's had its ups and downs," he admitted. "But you can't do something like this with ease.
"As we stripped the house back, we found some amazing things.
"We discovered all the servant bells and there is a well in the back.
"We even found an entirely new room we didn't realise existed.
"We also weren't sure if the basement had been filled in, but luckily it hasn't, and it will make a great kitchen area and games room.
"There have been problems and, with it being a listed building, there have been plenty of bureaucratic obstacles. We have also found deathwatch beetles, which meant we had to replace a whole load of joists and we also discovered asbestos.
"I'm a gardener by trade, not a builder, so it has been a steep learning curve."
Simon believes Coltman Street is being transformed, much like his house.
"When I started on this house more than a year ago, people were still dealing drugs down the street," he said.
"But there are signs things are changing.
"I am not the first to do this down Coltman street.
"There are about ten other homes being done up by their owners.
"There is an upward trajectory and people are investing in the area.
"I am from the Boulevard and this a house I know well, as I passed it every day when I was younger.
"It was derelict but I could tell it was a fantastic house.
"It is a dream come true to get my hands on it."
For some added spice, Simon and Catherine's project has been documented for national television.
The home has featured on BBC Two's Restoration, hosted by Caroline Quentin, and an update will be aired on the channel on Wednesday, August 14, at 8pm.
"The television company wanted to film in Hull and were looking for any historical buildings being converted into homes," Simon said.
"My email was passed on to them by the council.
"I agreed to do it, as I thought it would be a nice record of our progress.
"I did wonder if there was any money in it, but there isn't.
"However, it has given great publicity to the street and has added interest to what we are doing.
"People are seeing what amazing houses there are in Coltman Street."
The keys haven't officially been handed over to Simon by Hull City Council yet.
But now the plumbing is in place and there is running water and toilets, he hopes that will be enough to meet the agreement with the local authority and then the home will be his and Catherine's.
"The deal is I carry out the work to convert it back into one house," Simon explained.
"I have to do it to the standard of a listed building and then the council will hand over ownership.
"It was supposed to be done by February but the council has given me a six-month extension.
"But now we have running water, we just have to wait to get a gas meter and then, hopefully, the house will be ours.
"We will feel a lot better when the home is finally ours."
Pickering built park, almshouses and children's homeLAST month, Simon and Catherine's home was awarded a blue plaque to mark the fact it was once the home of philanthropist Christopher Pickering.
The mid-Victorian house lies in what was once one of the most desirable places to live in the city.
The house includes a large basement, which was originally a kitchen where servants would work, and an extensive rear garden.
Mr Kelsey has secured a Heritage Lottery grant to help him with some of the cost of the restoration project.
Christopher Pickering was born in 1842, the son of a tailor.
In 1914, he built almshouses, a church, park and children's home in west Hull.
The almshouses now form part of Pickering and Ferens Homes, a charity which manages more than 1,250 properties across the region.
Pickering died in 1920, aged 78.
His Coltman Street house was converted into flats in the early 1980s.
From 1921, the house became the City of Hull Clinic.
It remained a clinic after the foundation of the National Health Service, providing a base for a doctor's surgery and a dentist.
