BHC - Building It
BHC - Building It
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Butterfly Haven Castle - Building It The building process took about five years, from about 1999-2004. It cost about £500,000 to buy/transform, and quite a bit of this was borrowed. When it was sold in 2007, it broke even. The considerable loan could be repaid. All remaining money has long since disappeared... In 2007 - when it was sold for ±R7 million [£500,000] - this was about 7½ times the cost of an average house in South Africa. However, at that time, the average house price in London was £300,000 and £180,000 elsewhere in the UK. Today [2019] £500,000 is merely the value of an average house in London or double that elsewhere in the UK. So, although it could be seen as a moneyed venture in South African terms, in UK terms it may seem very ordinary. Whatever your take, it was always felt to be done on a tight budget. Anyway, now to the photos of Building It, added in approximate chronological order:-  Double garage before property was acquired
 Note all the invasive alien gum trees [c.f. Great Fire of 2000]
 Gum trees have been removed
 Chaos!
 Last look at the double garage...
 Transform!...
 Maybe we should have left it like this?
   Removing lower level window...
 ...and filling it in with bricks
  Crane adds...
 ...roof slabs
 Preparing Level 1 bath area
 Adding the kitchen to Level 2
 Kitchen is getting there
 Building inspector checks on progress
  ...you can see the large sandstone tiles stacked upright, ready to be laid
 Scaffolding arrives...
    Nearly done...
 ...and scaffolding is about to vanish...
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Also see:- Butterfly Haven Castle Photo Galleries __________ Click on any image and see it larger! __________ Other pages in Photo Galleries also include the building process, such as:- __________
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