Martin and Sarah Caton bought the property for over Rs 16 crore.
A British couple’s dream home purchase has turned into a nightmare after discovering that the historic mansion’s previous owner stripped it of its most valuable assets, according to The Metro.
Martin and Sarah Caton paid 1.5 million pounds (Rs 16,68,25,119) for the Grade II*-listed Bochym Manor, eager to enjoy its Jacobean oak staircase, its walnut-panelled library, and history stretching back into the Domesday Book. A ten-bedroom gothic revival house possessed sixty-one holiday homes as well as secret passages and historic stained-glass windows.
However, their joy quickly turned to despair when they discovered the former owner, Dr Mark Payne, had removed numerous fixtures and fittings, including doors, windows, fireplaces, floors, guttering, plumbing, and electrics. Three of the four baths were missing, and the stunning stained-glass windows and library panelling, carved by the same firm that rebuilt the Houses of Parliament, had been removed.
The destruction did not stop at the manor house; holiday homes were completely gutted, and a staircase from the clock tower of the estate was taken out by Dr Payne’s hired workmen. Dr Payne’s hired workmen demolished the entrance pillar at the end of the drive to allow construction vehicles access to the site. Catons are now up for the task of bringing it back to its former glory with lots of reconstruction work, which was actually not in the plan.
“I was distraught. It was like a warzone or like a tornado had shredded the place. He took pretty much every door handle, tiles off the wall, and the locks were removed. There was some very random and bizarre destruction. I don’t understand the mentality behind it-it’s staggering that you can be that cruel, actually,” Mr Caton told The Metro.
According to The Metro, both Mr Caton, a vet and entrepreneur, and his wife had their suspicions that something ‘wasn’t quite right’ before they were given the last key to the mansion near Helston after Dr Payne had made excuses to stop them from coming to see it.
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