Modern Victorian Living

A man spent £10,000 to convert his home into Victorian paradise complete with antique grocery store.

17:36 17 February 2016

Peter Saunders, the man “stuck in the 1920s”, has spent  £10,000 and devoted the last six years of his life to restore his Victorian cottage into an amazing grocery shop – complete with working antique till.

 

The four-bedroom semi-detached home still has modern inventions, such as fridge freezer and central heating, all of which are hidden away.

 

Peter said: "It was a grocery shop until about 1920 and I managed to find all the fittings like the till, the packaging and even a shop window.

 

"The original owner William Robinson was a miner but the family were quite aspirational. They ran the house as a grocery shop and it was a shoe shop before that.

 

"Some of my older neighbours have also told me my house was a sweet shop in the 1970s."

 

Peter started collecting Victorian memorabilia from car boot sales and antiques fairs since 2004.

 

He said: "I love the Victorian era because unlike nowadays everything they bought and sold was made to last. I still find most of my items online, in antique shops or in car boots."

 

"I must have spent just over £10,000 this house. It's become my obsession.

 

"I think it all stems from my mum and sister who used to drag me round antiques fairs as a child but of course back then I absolutely hated it.

 

"But now this house really speaks to me - it's fair to say it's become my life."