When Rachel Burke and Thomas Lynch first inspected the house they now call home, they didn’t see eye to eye. Thomas struggled to see past the dowdy furniture, crappy carpet and garish bedroom walls. Rachel fell hard for the ’40s post-war cottage. It even had a dog door for their sausage dog, Daphne.
On the drive home, there followed what Thomas diplomatically describes as an “exchange” and Rachel freely admits was a tantrum. “I wigged out!” she said. “It was the last place we saw after inspecting a series of bleak-looking houses. As soon as I walked in, I knew it was the place for us. It had loads of character but didn’t require a
