Spot the fake Cottage!

The continuing saga of my house....
I flattened a 200 year old cottage to build the new one - the old one had no foundations and the next storm would have flattened it without me needing a JCB - but as part of the planning conditions, I was to build a replica so the new house looked like a traditional Irish cottage. A bit tricky as the timber frame was straight out of the brochure, but my builder has been a little creative and is proud that it looks like the real McCoy.
Well today, some guys from ESB turned up to hack down more trees to bring my electricity cable over to connect me to the mains. They thought I was selling the place. I put them right quite indignantly. "Well," said the man, "there's a lot of these old cottages being renovated then sold off...."
Yay! Fake cottage fools local man!!!!!!!!
This is the old one which was abandoned 15 years ago:



...and this was the new one as of today..... still not finished but not far off!



..and the back - the builder is very proud of the chimney as he did it in freezing conditions - the boys lit a small fire to warm him up!

wow its fab deccy ..............its come on great bet your really pleased

Wow, it's lovely! A local man thought it was an old cottage? Wally!

Well I suppose his memory of the old one was shakey, the new one is on the same spot and if you compare the two, the first window at the front (by the car) could be the original, if i was renovating I would have raised the roof height to get the attic rooms in, extended it backwards for a bit more room - the old one was just 3 rooms in a row - and possibly knocked out a new window on the end and moved the door round from the back.
In fact, the front wall looks like it could well have been the original....
The old roof was asbestos so that would have had to go regardless of renovation or new build.....

Thanks for your comments guys, open invitation when it's finished!

Wow what a difference lol... it looks really nice im sure your very pleased with it and im sure it will lovely once it's all tidy-ed up etc... how far along are you from finishing?

That's a good question
I will perhaps never finish it, as it has cost far more than it was supposed to, so I will move in with 2 shower rooms not done, only carpet in my bedroom and the hall/landing/stairs and bare concrete floors or tiles everywhere else, no wall tiles in the kitchen, no painting done inside.... but.... the phone line is going in on 5th Feb, the power connection about a week after that, the heating and plumbing next week, so I am hoping to move in at the end of Feb. It was originally going to be Christmas, then my birthday (tomorrow) but with the bank messing up my mortgage leaving me with no money for the contractors, and hellish weather for the past month, it's gone out to the right - as well as the costs shooting up constantly.
The project has taken years off my life expectancy

Wow that looks fab

Have a happy Birthday tomorrow. You cottage is looking good and it won't be long now till you get moved in and even though your interior decor will not be in place. It is yours and you will get there in the end and then you sit back and say well it was worth all the hassle. Enjoy your Birthday.

Flippin' heck that looks fab, it'll all be worth it in the end!

*Packs rucksack in preparation for the "opening" of the open invitation*

Wow, that looks fantastic, I bet you can't wait to move in.

I can't begin to imagine how much hard work you've had to do to get it this far along, but in a few years time when it's all finished, I'm sure you'll look back with a great deal of satisfaction - I know I would, it's a stunning home and I hope you and the doggies will be very, very happy there.

(p.s. I actually managed to open your thread, complete with photos without my laptop crashing )

Have a wonderful birthday. x