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 Our watertower was worth the pain of the build Published : 13 February 2005  RUSSELL and Jannette Harris bought their fabulous 130-yar-old Grade II-listed Victorian watertower at an auction eight years ago.Having lived in Lymm, Chesire, for a number of years, in a farmhouse they had renovated, the couple were familiar with the local landmark. Russell, 47, a TV producer, said: "When it came up for sale by auction it was an impulse buy on my part. Jannette thought I was mad and I didn't expect to win, but I did, paying £138,00. "We expected the renovation to take under a year, but eight years and nearly £500,000 later we have finally finished! If we'd have known how many setbacks we were going to have we would never have gone through with it, but now w'ere out the other end, I'm so glad we did. "We took our loans, motgages, and did lots of the work ourselves which is why it has taken so long. But when we sit on the roof in our hot tub with the lights of Manchester twinkling in the distance we know it was worth all the pain." Russell and Jannete and their children James, 15, and Sophie, nine, lived in rented accomodation for four years while much of the work was being done. The project, first priced at £75,000, went so over budget the couple struck a deal with four mobile phone operators to use the top of their tower for their masts. Russell said: "I have followed my vision and now it is finished, the house is amazing. The tower is a real landmark for Lymm.
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| © 2001 - 2005 Russell Harris |