Back then, neither of us was able to see anything through to the end, yet together we managed to completely self-renovate a dilapidated abandoned house and began renting out our very first holiday cottage (AKIYA nehemiah). If you haven’t read that story yet, you can find it here ↓
Our dabble with house renovations was supposed to end once we’d finished that house, but after we opened it for business we found ourselves as newcomers to the hospitality industry, where everything was unfamiliar. Whilst managing the vacation rental and listening to the feedback from our guests, our knowledge and experience grew, little by little. Hearing guests say things like, ‘This house brought me back to life and I felt so relaxed; I feel ready to tackle whatever comes next,’ or ‘I’ve made memories that will last a lifetime,’ we realised that what was supposed to be just a place to stay had become a cherished memory in someone’s life. Our guests taught us that.
Then a few months later we felt the urge to create something again…
We wanted to witness the dramatic transformation of an abandoned house once more and we wanted to create an even more wonderful retreat. Even if we were out walking with Chestnut or driving to the supermarket, we found ourselves looking for abandoned houses. We wanted to experience the euphoria again when a ‘place without possibility’ was reborn and made into something special. But this time we wanted to put everything we had into the renovation, without any compromise. We wanted to transform another abandoned house into a truly stylish villa.
⬆︎When we bought the house (June 2021)
The first vacation rental was near the sea, so we decided that a mountain retreat would be better next time. We managed to find a few houses, but somehow the road leading to its purchase just wouldn’t proceed smoothly so plans came to a halt.
Then one day we remembered a house we’d found a long time ago. It was buried in weeds, ignored by everyone, blending into the background. It was beautiful. That was when we realised we’d been looking for houses that were already guaranteed to be amazing from the start. Because the construction work would be easy and because we could picture the finished result.
But we realised that wasn’t what we wanted to achieve. What we really wanted to do was to shine a light once more on things that had been abandoned. We wanted to create potential for an abandoned house where everyone thought there was none. We wanted to turn trash into treasure.
This house had been overlooked, forgotten and discarded so it was perfect for us. So we decided to throw ourselves into this challenge with everything we had.
May 2021 → Start of Construction
January 2023 → End of Construction
⬆︎Upon finishing construction 1.5 years later (January 2023)
We first came across this house by chance whilst out for a walk. At first, it didn’t look any different to any other abandoned house we’d seen before, but even after a few days had passed, for some reason we couldn’t get it out of our heads. So we tracked down the owner, wrote a letter, popped it into his postbox and waited. A few days later, we received a reply.
‘The door’s unlocked, so feel free to have a look around.’
That was it.
– Leaky roof, overgrown trees and grass, and a state of disrepair
A few years after first discovering the property we decided to see it again with the aim of turning this into our 2nd vacation rental. The moment we stepped inside we could sense the dampness from years of roof leaks and the dilapidated state that would make anyone want to give up right then and there. But for us, it was the opposite. We felt a sense of excitement welling up from deep within. This was it!
It was in pretty much the same condition as our first property (AKIYA nehemiah) when we bought it, but this time we were filled with excitement at the thought of how we could transform it. This house, abandoned for decades, was a building destined to just rot away or either be demolished. We were so excited after seeing the house the 2nd time, that without even checking any property details or giving it much thought, we contacted the owner and decided to buy it. At the time, we had no idea that this challenge would involve so many hurdles and that it would be a long journey……….
– The Battle with Nature
Of course we wanted to jump straight into fixing up the house but first, the overgrown grass and trees sprouting everywhere meant we couldn’t even enter the grounds, let alone see the house. On top of that a huge tree had fallen onto the roof damaging it. First we cut our way through the jungle with a brush cutter and a chainsaw. We cleared more than ten full truck loads of grass and pulled dozens of trees out by the roots. The largest tree, over 10 metres tall and thick, took a whole day to fell after climbing up it.
After that, we cleared out the items left in the house, such as chests of drawers, and began dismantling the rotten floors, broken bath, toilet, ceiling and walls. When we buy a vacant property to renovate, we always start with clearing and demolition.
-30% clearing, 40% demolition, 30% building work.
Only 30% of the work is actually fixing up the house. Renovating an abandoned house in this state isn’t about starting from 0, it really is a case of starting from minus. Before we can get to the fun stuff (designing and creating) there’s the ‘never-ending clear-out’. You feel like giving up before you can even get to that part.
– Overcoming our fear of heights
By the time we’d finished clearing and demolishing the interior, we needed to replace the roof to stop the leaks, so we tackled our first ever roofing job. Climbing up onto the roof, dismantling the original slate roofing—which weighed about 40kg each—and carrying it down whilst walking across the roof was truly terrifying…… Once you dismantle the roof, you can’t stop halfway through the construction. It was a battle against the rain but moreover a battle against time. It was our first time ever doing roof work so we there were many things we didn’t know how to do. But we couldn’t give up even when we felt we wanted to, so we just had to keep pushing forward—no breaks, no rest. Cheryl even fell off the roof once. It was a huge mountain we both had to climb, feeling our way from start to finish. At the beginning, it felt like a long never-ending road ahead.
– Never again
Earthquake-proofing the whole house. This part is required by law for any business in Japan. We set up the steel reinforcement, built the formwork, and once everything was ready, wait for the concrete truck to arrive. Two of us form a bucket brigade from the ready-mix truck, compact the concrete with a vibrator, and level it with a trowel. Then it’s back to carrying more concrete—and the cycle repeats. Our arms and legs aching, and sweating so much no your body doesn’t produce any more. But the concrete keeps coming and we have to finish before it sets. Once we start, there’s no stopping. We were completely short-staffed!! We managed to strengthen the house’s foundations all within the limited time before the concrete set, but we were on the verge of collapsing. We were worn out.
It was a challenge we will never do again…
-The fusion of Japanese craftsmanship and antique English fittings
The once ruin, turned construction site began changing over time little by little. Once we had finished the roof, exterior walls, foundations and earthquake-proofing, the design-focused renovation could finally begin. For this project, we incorporated 19th-century English windows and doors into a traditional Japanese house. East and West. Blending different eras and cultures into a single space.
The antique window sizes of course didn’t fit and some parts of were broken. We repaired them one by one, gradually integrating them into the space. It was a very delicate and arduous task. It was like a small glimpse into the immense dedication of those who built Western-style architecture in Japan during the Meiji era.
After that, the hellish construction work of midsummer began. At that time, we were working on the bathroom. It was a strangely shaped space with earthen walls, where old agricultural machinery had once been stored. The bathroom is where you wash away the grime of the day’s travel when staying overnight. We absolutely refused to have one of those plastic prefabricated bathroom unit so well known in Japan. We aimed to create a space where even the air felt refreshing, with high ceilings and exposed old beams. We would start work at 5am in the morning, then rush over to clean our vacation rental (AKIYA nehemiah), then return again after lunch to continue the construction. We repeated this daily routine for months on end.
Then there was the mouldings around the door and window frames, which forms the very heart of this house’s design. We designed everything to match the Western-style windows and doors, crafting each piece by hand. We devoted a great deal of time details like these, such as the intricate moulding and skirting board designs, even in areas that might go unnoticed.
Beyond that, we levelled the surfaces for wall panelling and cut the plasterboard to the shape of the timber to ensure every beam and rafter remained visible…
The amount of work, stress and exhaustion here simply cannot be put into words. For some reason, we always end up choosing the most challenging designs. But we believe it is the accumulation of these decisions that defines the character of the houses we have renovated. Even in the most arduous areas that probably no one will even notice, we strive to remain true to what we want to do. Most people wouldn’t go to such lengths when doing a DIY renovation, but we wanted to place particular importance on precisely those ‘parts that nobody else spends time on’.
-The Final Sprint
This land was once a rice paddy and is long, narrow and spacious. What was initially an overgrown jungle of weeks we couldn’t even set foot on has been reborn alongside the house. We nailed on 230 boards to build the fence that encloses the entire lawn, laid down some natural turf and created a dog run.
-The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ‘Luke 20:17’
A year and a half.
From the height of summer to the depths of winter, through one and a half cycles of the seasons. To be honest, with a house in such a dilapidated state, it would have been so much easier and quicker to simply demolish it and build from scratch. However, we chose this path and this method because we wanted to preserve its history and character, and we have finally made it through to the end. At times, we worked non-stop from 5 in the morning until nightfall, whilst also managing and cleaning our other vacation rental. Renovation is often seen as a fun process, but to be honest, the fun part is actually quite limited.
At the heart of our motivation was our desire to transform discarded items into wonderful treasures, and our other goal, to rent out the property as our 2nd vacation rental. The fact that we have guests who stay at our rental property who create memories that can only be made there, and that these become one of the wonderful memories in their lives. That was our driving force.
We both felt we wanted another chance to create a stylish space that offers a truly satisfying experience, but this time with its own garden. That dream took shape as our 2nd vacation rental ‘AKIYA cornerstone’. That’s why we are so proud to share this house which we created with our guests in mind, with you all.
About a year after we finally opened and had recovered both mentally and physically, we decided to build the sauna we’d always wanted to create.
We considered buying a ready-to-assemble barrel sauna, thinking ‘we don’t want to get tired or have to think about it anymore’, but that’s just not us – we’re all or nothing. If we were going to build a sauna, we wanted to design and build it ourselves. Starting from the foundations, we did everything ourselves—carving the mortise and tenon joints, erecting the framework, constructing the exterior walls, the roof, the interior, the benches, and installing the wood-burning stove.
And so, ‘AKIYA cornerstone’ continues to operate as the greatest creation of our lives and as a place where our guests can recharge their batteries.
Once our first property was finished, our lives felt devoid of challenge. But after buying this abandoned house, we found ourselves in a dire situation—one we overcame with God’s help.
Building AKIYA cornerstone was without a doubt, a challenge that consumed our lives. It was so gruelling it left us traumatised. We thought we’d never do any kind of construction work again. But whenever our guests tell us,
“It was the best house ever,” “It became a lifelong memory for our family,” or “We had a great time with our beloved dog,”
Every time we hear that we are so glad we undertook this huge challenge. We completed AKIYA cornerstone as a building but it is only truly complete because of you, our guests. If this place brings you even a moment’s peace of mind, or if the time spent here with your loved ones becomes a special memory, we’ll be truly delighted. And if you can sense the ‘story’ and the gruelling hours of work we put into this place, nothing could make us happier.
But honestly, we will never do a project like this again!
Watch the transformation on YOUTUBE↓
The story of our 1st vacation rental↓
