RESTORING their historic home to its former glory has been a real labour of love for the Simms family.
Karen and Simon bought the Grade II-listed townhouse in Kelloe, Durham, a decade ago and have since injected life back into this magnificent house. Having stood empty for 32 years, the couple painstakingly renovated Kelloe Hall room by room. Karen, a partner at a solicitors in Newcastle, said: “We had to do a huge amount to the house. For the first year we lived in one room! It was also a great opportunity to put our mark on it. It was a real labour of love. “Being a Grade II-listed building we had to be very sympathetic to its original features. We opened up the old fireplaces and added a new kitchen and bathrooms. The house is full of character. There is a beautiful sweeping staircase. We just fell in love with it. It had all the details we loved.” The property’s colourful history really appealed to the couple. “The house is shrouded in history and was originally one big property. It’s difficult to date. It is reputed to be one of the first courthouses in County Durham and there are secret tunnels, now closed off, which run from what used to be the old jailhouse,” said Karen. It is believed that earlier occupants built St Helen’s Church in Kelloe, where the couple married and their children, Grace, six, Charlotte, four, and Thomas, 10 months, were christened. | 
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