WE'VE SPENT 20 YEARS TRANSFORMING OUR HUGE SEFTON PARK HOME THAT'S ONE OF THE LAST OF ITS KIND

Sefton Park is one of my favourite places in the city. And if you're anything like me, you will walk past the enormous homes that run parallel to the park and wonder what life is like inside them.

Tony Craig, 68, from Aigburth, bought one of the historic homes on Aigburth Drive 20 years ago, transforming it into an idyllic home for him and his wife at one side, and five apartments that he rents out to tenants at the other. This gives you an idea of just how big the building is, with Tony being able to lend space to five other apartments without feeling intruded on.

But it hasn’t come without hard work. Tony and his wife started renovations around 13 years ago and they’re still ongoing in some parts of the property now.

Tony told the ECHO: “The building was originally ten apartments about 20 years ago, then when I bought the property we changed it and decided to live on one side and refurbish the other. We moved in about ten years ago and have lived here ever since.

“They are big houses, this house is probably 6,000 square feet which is a decent sized house. During the 70s the place was refurbished and they didn’t do a very good job, they just lowered the ceilings.

"But when we bought it and removed the ceilings we found original features that had been covered up. We have refurbished them and kept them.

“We love the house for the area, we have the park directly opposite and it’s a beautiful park. It’s a nice area, you can commute to Liverpool in 5-10 minutes and everything is on your doorstep. Most of the neighbours have no problems but most of the buildings are flats now.”

He added: “We're happy here. It's a lovely place to live. You don't realise how big they are and some of the original stuff like the windows are listed so you can't touch them which means it has been a huge job to refurbish.

"It’s taken 13 years to refurb it and we still haven’t finished it. We are proud to have done it. It's taken a lot of work."

Tony showed the ECHO around his incredible home and you can really get a feel for its period features and original characteristics. Tony said the front room in the house has been perfectly restored to its former glory.

He said: “It’s exactly how it would have looked originally, the windows are the originals. It brings so much peace being able to sit out and look out the window over onto the park, it's quite nice.”

Tony and his wife, who did not want to be named, own one of the few buildings in this area that haven’t been completely transformed into flats. Tony said: “Most of the houses along here have now been stripped back and turned into flats; there is only a couple with the original features.

"We were even asked if they could do some filming in the house because of how it looked." The history of the property can be traced back to around 1875 when it was built as a merchant's house.

Tony said: "The history is difficult to find out because at one point it was taken over by Liverpool City Council, so finding the people who had the house originally is difficult. We know its history back to the 1940s where a lady called Sophie Kaye and her husband lived here with their servants.

“One of the previous owners once knocked on the door, they told us how they used to have parties in the cellar. She told us that it was her grandma that owned it and she remembered the house from when she was little. She used to slide down the bannisters.

"It was really interesting. Her stories were lovely, it was nice to hear them. It was a different era. We want to know more about the people who bought it in the 1900s. We have been looking for photos but are struggling to find anything.”

Photos show the scale of the property on Aigburth Drive, and it's hard to imagine how just one family lived in houses like this at one time. The ECHO's Where I Live series explores one property from across the region each week, with its owner giving us an insight into what makes a house a home. Do you want to have your home featured in Where I Live? If so, please email: [email protected]

2024-09-07T12:49:28Z dg43tfdfdgfd