Run-down cottage on the iconic hill which featured in Hovis advert goes on the market for £535,000 after major renovation
- Cottage on top of the iconic Hovis Hill has hit the market for £535,000
- Dexter Parsons paid $165,000 for property in Shaftesbury, Devon in 2021
- Home was made famous by the Boy on the Bike TV advert for Hovis bread
- Grade II listed home had been empty for five years before the renovations
A run-down cottage on the iconic ‘Hovis Hill’ has been restored to its former glory and is now up for sale for £535,000.
Dexter Parsons paid £165,000 for the Grade II listed derelict home on Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset, which was made famous by the Boy on the Bike TV advert for Hovis bread.
The empty shell of a building had been placed on Dorset Council’s at risk register for heritage properties.
The cottage, believed to have been built in the 17th century or early 18th century, had lain empty, unused and in disrepair for five years.
The council’s housing standards team traced the previous owner and persuaded them to put it on the market.
After buying it at auction in 2021, Mr Parsons, a builder, carried out a 10 month, £200,000 renovation on the two bedroom cottage, which is halfway up the hill and can be seen on the Hovis ad.
A run-down cottage on the iconic ‘Hovis Hill’ made famous by the Boy on the Bike TV advert has been restored to its former glory and is now up for sale for £535,000
After buying it at auction, Dexter Parsons, a builder, carried out a 10 month, £200,000 renovation on the two bedroom cottage, which can be seen on the Hovis advert
Number 16 Gold Hill needed a huge amount of work and only had an outside toilet and structural issues when Mr Parsons bought it for £165,000 in 2021
READ MORE: View made famous by iconic Hovis advert is ‘ruined’ by scaffolding
Number 16 Gold Hill needed a huge amount of work and only had an outside toilet and structural issues when he bought it.
A lot of the oak beams had to be replaced, walls had to be replastered, it needed rewiring and replumbing, as well as creating an indoor bathroom for the first time in the cottage’s history.
He was able to save many original features and used traditional building materials and techniques to preserve the historical fabric and make a home fit for modern living.
Mr Parsons, from Bristol, said: ‘This renovation has been such a challenge, like nothing I have attempted before. I’ve listened carefully to Dorset Council to get the right conservation advice about how the work should be completed.
‘I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. I viewed the property on the Thursday and the auction was on the Friday. It took a while to get started because it’s a listed building and I had to get a lot of surveys done.
‘I knew it was going to be a lot of work but I didn’t mind the challenge because I knew it was all fixable.
Traditional building materials and techniques were used throughout the renovations to preserve the historical fabric and make a home fit for modern living
Mr Parsons (pictured) said it had been a ‘privilege’ to work in Shaftesbury and rescue the home
Builders created the first indoor bathroom in the cottage’s history during the renovations
‘We stripped it back to the shell and tried to keep as much of the original beams as we could. I think if it had been left another year or so, it would have collapsed.
‘I know a lot of builders would have walked away but I just loved the place.
‘I knew the Hovis advert but I didn’t really know much about Gold Hill or the area until I started working here. Getting to know all the locals on the hill, they have been great, we had coffee from neighbours pretty much every day.
‘I think they were relieved to see it looking nice again. There’s a real community spirit in this part of Shaftesbury and it’s been a privilege to work here and rescue this building, hopefully for generations to come.
‘I bought it to turn into a holiday let but I am putting it on the market because I ended up spending a lot more than I was expecting. But it will be a bit of a shame to see it go. If it doesn’t sell I will rent it out as a holiday let.’
The home now has a kitchen, three reception rooms on the ground floor, two bedrooms on the first floor and a bedroom on the second floor.
Shaftesbury is one of Dorset’s prettiest towns and the view from the top of Gold Hill is said to be one of the most romantic anywhere
Cllr David Walsh, Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for planning, said: ‘This is a great example of the Dorset Council team working together to protect part of our rich historic environment.
‘From finding an abandoned building, to getting renovations sensitively completed, the council has provided the kick start for private investment and enabled this success story.’
The cottage featured in the renowned Hovis advert in 1973 which saw a young bakery boy struggling to push his bike up the cobbled street with a basket full of bread to the last house on his round.
He said that delivering bread to the house on top of the hill ‘t’was like taking bread to the top of the world’.
The advert, directed by Ridley Scott, was voted Britain’s all-time favourite in 2006 and Gold Hill in still a popular spot for tourists.
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