"I just fell in love when I saw it," recalls Matt Cooper about the first time he set eyes on The Engine House. "Its details were in an estate agents window in Matlock, Derbyshire, so I wandered down to take a look. It was all covered over with ivy, with trees growing out of the roof. It was just a really beautiful place."
 Built in 1844 to house the winding engine used to power Meerbrook Sough, the drainage tunnel for Wirksworth's lead mine, the engine itself was sold off in 1870. The property included the main house and an outbuilding called the coe which was used as a staff/store room, It had long been derelict when Matt saw it in 2000.
Undeterred, he bought the house, knowing he couldn't afford to pay contractors. He undertook nearly all the work himself, with help from friends. Fortunately, one of his friends, Alan, is a builder, and the pair have since gone into business together.
"It was the arches that I really loved, and the shape. It's so square, and the arches give it form and shape," enthuses Matt, who at the time was doing shift work in a factory.
"That was one of the hardest things about the project. I had no time to work on it, only Saturdays. I couldn't afford to employ contractors, so I had to work at weekends, and a little bit after work. But with no water or toilets, we really couldn't stay there for long."
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