The owners of an iconic Norfolk Broads mill have put it up for sale after a huge project to restore it.

Owner John Reeves is the first to admit that when he and his wife, Laura, bought Wherryman’s Mill in Reedham, it was a bit of a gamble.

The pair are originally from Kent but knew Norfolk well – they had previously lived in the Norwich area before they upped sticks and moved abroad, first to Italy and then to the USA.

On their return, John says they could have lived anywhere, but the open air, lack of traffic and varied landscape of Norfolk offered great appeal. “We were looking in Scotland, we were looking in Wales, we were looking at Cumbria, but to us, although we weren’t brought up here, Norfolk just felt like home,” he says.

“And then this popped up on Rightmove. We wanted to buy a house and then just went a bit crazy and decided to buy a windmill instead!”

Eastern Daily Press: The mill sits in a plot of around 2.5 acres which also includes private river moorings and a separate cabinThe mill sits in a plot of around 2.5 acres which also includes private river moorings and a separate cabin (Image: Minors & Brady)

As it turns out, John and Laura are not the first couple to buy the mill – or to transform it.

Built in 1840 as a drainage mill, it ceased operating in 1936 and sat derelict for years before Leicester-based shoe manufacturer and businessman Geoffrey Livingston and his wife, Stella, bought it in the 1950s.

They transformed it from a former industrial building into a unique holiday home, complete with landscaped gardens and a unique aluminium viewing platform, which is still in use today.

The couple would make the journey to their weekend home by helicopter in under an hour but, by the 1980s, it was being let out to others as a holiday home.

Eastern Daily Press: The extent of some of the work carried out, which included stripping the mill of its previous render and applying a new lime oneThe extent of some of the work carried out, which included stripping the mill of its previous render and applying a new lime one (Image: John Reeves)

When John and Laura bought the brick-built mill in 2018, it “wasn’t in the best shape”, John says. It had been painted red and rendered in concrete – “about the worst thing you can do to bricks,” he says – and was covered in trees and ivy. “Even the ivy was growing up through the bricks,” John says. “It had just found a way in.”

John says deciding what the best thing to do for the property was was a bit of a process. “Everything that you thought could have gone wrong was going wrong,” he says, but they decided to renovate it properly, stripping back the building to its bare bones and starting from there.

This involved four months of painstaking work with a chisel, stripping off layers of concrete. “It was inside and out, which involved me and a chisel for four months. Just going it myself, day in, day out, right through the middle of winter.”

Eastern Daily Press: Accommodation in the mill is arranged over three floors, with the lounge located towards the topAccommodation in the mill is arranged over three floors, with the lounge located towards the top (Image: Minors & Brady)

In fact, John says he did a lot of the work himself, alongside two friends in the trade – one a boat builder, the other a metal fabricator – with help from the team at the Suffolk-based company, Best of Lime.

Once the concrete was off, the mill was pure brick and beams, John says. “It was just a brick shell, the whole thing, and from there we tried to use traditional materials the whole way, really.”

This included putting on a completely new lime render – a “breathable” substance which is better for the brick – and completely re-painting the outside with a new, lime and charcoal-based paint. “It had been covered in this weird plastic paint,” John explains. “It was really odd stuff – I don’t know what they’d stuck on it, it was a nightmare to get off, but again it was just doing the worst thing for the building.”

Eastern Daily Press: The property has been re-rendered and renovated and offers several balconies providing completely panoramic viewsThe property has been re-rendered and renovated and offers several balconies providing completely panoramic views (Image: Minors & Brady)

John says they couldn’t find a natural red, so instead they took inspiration from other mills in the area and painted it black. They also installed new aluminium windows and fully re-wired it.

Now, accommodation in the mill is ‘upside down’, with a bedroom and bathroom on the ground floor and new kitchen and lounge on the floors above. It still has the original 1950s viewing platform, made of aluminium and steel, which is also considered a nod to the building’s industrial past. John says they’ve tried to mimic this in other ways, too.

“It’s a mixture of traditional materials, very much the industrial look,” says John. “That’s the point of the mill, really. It was an industrial building. What we didn’t want to do is just do the kind of traditional nautical theme – it just felt wrong.”

Eastern Daily Press: The bedroom area on the ground floorThe bedroom area on the ground floor (Image: Minors & Brady)

Growing up, John says he lived in an oast house, so he’s no stranger to buildings with an industrial past. “This is Norfolk’s version of an oast house, more or less. Industrial past, round,” he says.

“It always seems quite sad to see a lot of the windmills around here. Everyone likes to see them but they all fall into real disrepair – had we not done this, I’d imagine that it would have, over time, just crumbled to bits.”

The mill is now John and Laura’s home, although the site, which extends to around 2.5 acres, also includes a timber-framed cabin, which they lived in during the renovations. Since then they’ve used it as a gym.

Eastern Daily Press: Wherryman's Mill, Reedham, is on the market at a guide price of £850,000Wherryman's Mill, Reedham, is on the market at a guide price of £850,000 (Image: Minors & Brady)

“We live in the mill at the moment. We were actually living in the cabin while we were doing the mill. We got the mill done, then we moved over here, but it has got two bedrooms, a full kitchen. Everything that you need in the house is in the cabin as well.

“It very much lends itself to either a multi-generational family – you know, it would be perfect for teenage boys to live in the cabin, with the parents over here – or as a holiday let. It was used beforehand as that, and we’ve even had some kind of guesstimates of price. You’re talking anywhere between £1,500 and £2,000 per week.”

It’s easy to see why it would make such a lucrative business opportunity. After all, it is set in an idyllic Norfolk Broads village and from the viewing platform, there are 360-degree views over the neighbouring marshes, as well as 100ft of private moorings, a riverside garden and access to Wherryman’s Way, a long-distance footpath which runs beside the property.

Eastern Daily Press: The modern fitted kitchen, which is located on the second floor and leads out to the observation area on the balconyThe modern fitted kitchen, which is located on the second floor and leads out to the observation area on the balcony (Image: Minors & Brady)

But for John, that was never on the cards. “It’s just something that we’ve never really considered that much,” he says. “We just fancied kind of living in it.”

John says that in updating the building using traditional and natural materials, they have not only saved it but also prolonged its life – and it’s been great fun to do. But now, after 18 months living inside it, he’s looking ahead. “I’ve just got an absolute itch to do another project,” he says.

Another mill?

“Perhaps,” he says. “Possibly a mill. I’ve certainly got the experience to do it now. I know how to deal with cutting everything in a circle – it’s certainly harder than doing a square home!

Eastern Daily Press: The observation deck was added to the mill when it was first restored in the 1950s and offers panoramic views over the neighbouring marshesThe observation deck was added to the mill when it was first restored in the 1950s and offers panoramic views over the neighbouring marshes (Image: Minors & Brady)

“But it could be anything. Just something with a bit of character that, again, needs some work, needs just a bit of love put back into it.

“Probably, for us, it’s the thought of working with what the building was, so we can put it back to how it was built in the first place.”

Wherryman’s Mill is for sale with Minors & Brady at a guide price of £850,000. Call them on 01603 950174 for more information.

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